Navy Identifies Crew Killed In Crash Of T-6B Texan II Aircraft In Alabama Neighborhood
(CBSDFW.COM/CNN) -- The U.S. Navy has identified the two-person crew killed Friday after a T-6B Texan II training aircraft crashed in a small town in Alabama.
In a news release Sunday, the Navy identified the victims as Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross, 30, from Wixom, Michigan, and 24-year-old U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett of Weddington, North Carolina.
Ross was an instructor pilot, the Navy statement said, while Garrett was identified as a student aviator.
"Their spirit, friendship, and devotion to their country will not be forgotten," the Navy statement said.
Ross and Garrett took off in a Navy T-6B Texan II trainer aircraft from Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, on Friday for a routine training flight, the Navy said.
The aircraft crashed around 5 p.m. CT in a residential area of Foley, Alabama, about 30 miles southeast of Mobile by air and about 45 miles from NAS Whiting Field.
No civilians were injured in the crash, the Navy said Sunday. The incident is under investigation by the Navy and local authorities.
There are 245 T-6Bs based at the Navy's two aviation training bases, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, which is located 24 miles northeast of Pensacola, Florida, and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Six additional T-6B aircraft are stationed at the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
On Saturday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley expressed his condolences to Ross' and Garrett's families, saying in a tweet, "Today, we mourn the loss of our two fallen Shipmates who perished in yesterday's T-6B training crash in Foley, AL. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and our @USNavy teammates."
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The CNN Wire™ & © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company contributed to this report.)
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