Report on crash released

NAVAL AIR STATION WHITING FIELD, Fla. — A Navy investigation into the 2020 crash of a T-6B Texan II training aircraft that killed a Navy instructor pilot and a Coast Guard student pilot has determined their deaths were "not due to misconduct or negligence." Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross and Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett died on impact Oct. 23, 2020, when their plane came down in a residential area near Foley, Ala. They were going to a landing field east of the city when the plane struck the ground upside down, according to an investigative report released by the Navy in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The report recommends the Navy conduct briefings on procedures to follow in the event of an inadvertent departure from controlled flight, and recommends the Navy review training on ejection procedures for the T-6B Texan II. In comments, the commander of Training Squadron Two at NAS Whiting Field, to which the two aviators were assigned, indicate that he could not reach any conclusions on the circumstances leading to the crash. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 01/05/22) Previous