Aerial search crews located an EA-18G Growler that crashed Tuesday afternoon, the Navy announced Wednesday night.
Although search teams found the Growler “on a mountainside” east of Mount Rainier, the status and location of its two crew members remains unknown. The search crew located the crash site around 12:30 p.m. Pacific time.
The Navy is planning to send personnel to secure the remote area around the crash site that cannot be accessed by motorized vehicles, according to the release. The sea service set up an emergency operations center on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in order to coordinate efforts.
The Growler, from the “Zappers” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130, crashed during routine training flight around 3:20 p.m. Pacific time, according to a Tuesday night Navy news release.
“Additional units supporting search and rescue include: U.S. Navy Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1), Patrol Squadron (VP-46), NAS Whidbey Island Search and Rescue, and U.S. Army 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” the Navy said in the Wednesday update.
A Navy MH-60S helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and other search and rescue assets examined the crash site and looked for the crew, according to the Tuesday night release. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
This story will be updated.
