Mid-air collision Fallon NAS today
 

...and by sheer coincidence I saw the whole thing above Middlegate on the way home from eastern Nevada. I was the 3rd party to reach the 2 ejected airmen, nobody saw a 3rd chute. The guys were OK, I gave them some Gatorade and stayed until the ground units arrived. Unlike the crowd on the edge of the road, I did not find post-crash photos appropriate, and I was too busy during the action to take any.

Pretty amazing scene, and sad.

Wow man. :eek:

F18's?

It was an F-5 trainer vs. an F18.

RIP F-18C Pilot :(

Glad the 2 from the F-5 got out ok though :)

Yeah, the F-18 was a burning fireball from the get-go, with very little recognizable structure left. I'm sure the pilot's fate was instantaneous. The F-5 did not appear to be very intact on it's way to the desert floor, and did not explode on impact as I imagine the fuel was released into the atmosphere pretty fast. So, the collision at least spared the nose/cockpit section of the F-5 enough for the pilot and backseater to eject, which they did pretty early.

Do they know why they collided?

F-5 and T-38 are old '50-'60s airframe designs that are still in use and can take a serious beating and hold together long enough for the pilots to get out if not limp them home. The F-5 is that mean looking "adversary" plane they use to emulate Migs at Top Gun.

I don't think the newer airframes are as robust in a collision but I guess it all depends on where and how you get hit.

It is sad to hear about when solders die in battle, it is even worse when it is not.

Wow, crazy that you were there. Good work on taking care of the guys. It was a very sad story indeed. :(

Nice work Scotty.