--- title: "Growler crew still missing as Navy searchers locate crash site near Mount Rainier" description: "Searchers spotted the wreckage of the plane, but not the crew, Wednesday afternoon amid bad weather and remote terrain." date: "2024-10-16" modified: "2024-10-17" authors: - name: "Matt White" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/matt-white/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-crash-growler-rainier/" categories: - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" tags: - "adsafety" - "Crash" --- # Growler crew still missing as Navy searchers locate crash site near Mount Rainier ![220309-N-DU622-1001 PACIFIC OCEAN (Mar. 9), An F/A-18F Super Hornet, from the "Flying Eagles" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122, flies over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is underway conducting routine operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Justin McTaggart)]() *A Navy E/A-18-G from Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 crashed near Mount Rainier, Washington, Tuesday. Navy photo by Seaman Justin McTaggart* The two-man crew of a Navy EA-18G Growler was still unaccounted for Wednesday after search and rescue forces spotted the plane's crash site amid mountainous terrain and cloudy weather near Mount Rainier. The Navy was preparing Wednesday evening to land crews at the crash site, which a Navy official described as a "remote area that is not accessible by motorized vehicles." Search crews flying Navy, Army, and civilian planes and helicopters — including Navy spy planes and submarine hunters — spotted the crash about 24 hours after the jet disappeared Tuesday afternoon. "Aerial operations continued through \[Tuesday\] night, launching from NAS Whidbey Island and searching in the area 30 miles west of Yakima," a Navy spokesperson said in a release Wednesday. The two-seat EA-18G flies with a pilot an Electronic Warfare Officer. An Emergency Operations Center has been established on NAS Whidbey Island to coordinate response efforts, and the U.S. Navy is making preparations to deploy personnel to secure aerial search crews located the wreckage of the EA-18G Growler that crashed on Oct. 15. The crash site rests on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier. The search includes [EP-3E Aries II]() aircraft from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) and P-8A Poseidon from Patrol Squadron 46 (VP-46). The EP-3E is a signal intelligence platform, tasked to eavesdrop on enemy communications and other electronic spying, while the airliner-sized P-8A conducts anti-submarine missions. Teams from NAS Whidbey Island Search and Rescue and Army helicopters from 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron from Joint Base Lewis-McChord were also searching. The Navy released no details on how the plane went missing during a "routine training missing" just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. The fighter jet crashed, the Navy said, "east of Mount Rainier," which sits about halfway between Seattle and Yakima. The plane was based at Whidbey Island as part of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130. Whidbey Island is home to nearly all of the Navy's EA-18Gs and its initial schoolhouse for pilots and flight officers assigned to the plane. VAQ-130 is part of Carrier Air Wing 3, which is attached to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. The EA-18G Growler is a variant of the FA-18 fighter with weapons and electronic systems dedicated to electronic warfare tasks, like finding and attacking enemy radar locations. *This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available*. ## The latest on Task & Purpose - **Marine sergeant major fired from West Coast bootcamp now** [**in brig**]() **amid investigation** - **Army** [**sends troops, artillery**]() **to the Aleutian Islands as Russian planes again fly near Alaska** - **Marine who died trying to** [**reach trapped Osprey pilots**]() **honored for final bravery** - **Former** [**West Point**]() **garrison commander cleared of most charges that led to firing** - **Navy’s first fully gender-integrated submarine joins the fleet.** [**Here’s what that means**]() ## Author Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose*.* He writes on news, people and events that affect the lives of those in the Army, Air Force and Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He also helps direct and edit coverage across Task & Purpose’s newsroom. He has written widely on military aviation and mishaps, service members with unique stories, and special operations including [combat search and rescue](). Got a story to tell? You can reach Matt at [matthew.white@taskandpurpose.com]() ### Author social links [Facebook]()