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ASSOCIATED PRESS The name of a Ma rine killed in an accident Wednesday at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma had not been released Thursday pending notification of kin and an ongoing investiga tion, Marine Corps officials said. On Wednesday, a T-59 Hawk crashed at MCAS Yuma around 11:45 a.m. The two people in the plane were examined at a hospital and released. The Marine was injured when the crash “impacted a government vehicle” and later pronounced dead at Yuma Regional Medical Center, the Marine Corps said. A white truck with its top and sides completely smashed and the hood stripped off could be seen near the burned wreckage of the airplane. Pvt. Casey Scarpulla said the aircraft veered off the runway, but she could not say what the Marine was do ing there. “Everything is still under investigation,” Scarpulla said. “We don’t know at this point.’ Brady Seler, who was working outside a Ford deal ership, said the plane ap peared to hit the ground at an angle, as if it were about to land, but something went wrong. “IT saw a smaller aircraft go straight down, and then there was a big explosion, and smoke filled the sky within 10 seconds,” he said. Kyle Underhill said he was taking out the trash at his battery shop when he heard a “loud boom” that shook the building. “When I turned around, I just saw the nose of the jet with a bunch of smoke up behind it,’ Underhill said. “It probably went out about 40 yards. When it stopped, you could see some people were out of it.” According to Underhill, firefighters arrived at the burning aircraft within a few minutes. “As soon as they hit it with the water, it just kind of exploded — nothing but flames and black smoke,” Underhill said. Federal Aviation Admin istration spokesman Jan Gregor said the agency was investigating the crash be cause the aircraft is regis tered to a civilian. Gregor did not yet know the details of the flight. The T-59 Hawk is a Brit ish-designed single-engine jet primarily used as a mili tary training plane, accord ing to aerospace company BAE Systems. FAA records show the air craft that crashed is owned by a Nevada company called Air USA. According to the company’s website, it pro vides contract services to the U.S. military and de fense contractors. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Bu reau began their investiga tion at 7:30 a.m. yesterday morning, according to Yuma International Airport officials. The aircraft was housed at Yuma International Air port, which shares the run ways with MCAS Yuma. Buy this photo at YumaSun.com PHOTO BY RANDY HOEFT/YUMA SUN MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA CRASH CREW PERSONNEL are in position near a crashed Aero L-39 Albatros, a high performance jet trainer, Wednesday afternoon at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma/Yuma International Airport.
Newspaper Details
Yuma Sun
Yuma, Arizona, US
Fri, Mar 13, 2015
Page 23
Full Page
Clipped by
David M.
USA 19 Dec 2025
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