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After Navy training crash, search for pilot continues

Posted at 7:50 PM, Mar 01, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-02 17:01:42-05
By Ashley Fantz

CNN

(CNN) — The search for the pilot of a jet that crashed near a U.S. Navy range in Nevada continued Sunday, the Navy said in a press release. The pilot’s name is being withheld until family is notified.

The crash of the U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C happened at about noon ET Saturday at Naval Air Station Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. The aircraft appears to be a “total loss,” the Navy said.

It took several hours for Navy personnel to reach the crash site because it was in remote, mountainous terrain, and an overnight snowstorm made getting to the scene more difficult.

The Navy had initially incorrectly said the aircraft was a Navy Hornet, but it was actually a Marine Corps F/A-18C on loan to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center for use as a training aircraft, the Navy said. The aircraft was not carrying any weapons or other munitions on the training flight, the Navy said, and no other injuries or property damage have been reported.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

Naval Air Station Fallon is a popular training site because of its weather, which provides “more than 300 clear flying days per year” and its facilities, which include four bombing ranges, an electronic warfare range and a 14,000-foot runway, the longest in the Navy, the base’s website says.

CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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