Two sailors die after Navy plane crashes in Alabama

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (June 03, 2019) – Two T-6B Texan II aircraft prepare to land at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi after completing a formation flight. Formation flights are one of four main segments of the Naval Primary Flight Training syllabus.

Two sailors died Friday when the trainer aircraft they were flying crashed in Magnolia Springs, Alabama.

While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, Navy officials say the sailors were flying in a T-6B Texan II when their plane came down at about 5:00 p.m. central time.

“The aircrew did not survive the crash,” wrote U.S. Naval Air Forces on Facebook. “We are not aware of any civilian casualties [at] this time.”

The plane crashed in a suburban neighborhood, according to local news reports. The plane managed to avoid crashing into any houses, though one caught fire and was heavily damaged in the incident. Local news station NBC 15 reported that the aircraft was flown out of Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida.

An all-purpose turboprop trainer, The T-6B Texan II was one of 245 at NAS Whiting Field and NAS Corpus Christi, where Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard pilots learn their trade, according to the Navy

NBC 15 reported that Navy trainers very frequently fly over Magnolia Springs, a small town just east of Foley, Alabama.

David Roza Avatar

David Roza

Former Staff Reporter

David covered the Air Force, Space Force, and anything Star Wars-related for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023. He previously covered local news in Maine and FDA policy in Washington D.C. David loves hearing the stories of individual airmen and their families and sharing the human side of America’s most tech-heavy military branch.