Navy issues ‘safety pause’ after recent deadly aircraft crashes
The Navy has ordered all aircraft to take a one-day “safety pause” after several recent crashes resulted in the deaths of five Marines and a Navy pilot.
The pause takes effect on Monday for all non-deployed units to “review risk-management practices” and carry out training on “error-management processes”, the Navy said in a press release on Saturday.
Deployed aircraft will conduct their own safety pause “at the earliest possible opportunity”.
On Wednesday, five Marines were killed when their MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed in a remote area of Imperial County around 30 miles north of the Mexican border.
The Marines said on Saturday a “mishap” had occurred during a routine flight training exercise.
“The mishap is currently under investigation,” they said in a statement.
Among the five dead service members was John Jeffrey Sax, 33, the son of former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Sax.
On June 3, Navy pilot Richard Bullock was killed when his F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet crashed in a remote part of the Mojave Desert in Southern California. The crash remains under investigation.
