Staff Report —
Two crew members were injured and a third was found dead in the aircraft after a Navy E-2D Hawkeye crashed north of Chincoteague around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The report of the crash triggered a massive response, including search of the area by air and boat.
Two people with injuries were rescued by Maryland State Police, according to a release from Naval Air Force Atlantic Public Affairs.
They were taken to NASA Wallops Flight Facility, where medical aircraft were staged, for transport for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The aircraft crashed into the water off Wildcat Point, near the Maryland state line.
After nearly an hour and a half, scanner reports indicated first responders declared finding the third crew member a recovery operation.
The fuselage and rear tail of the crashed aircraft were separated by 50 to 60 yards, according to scanner reports.
The Navy did not release the names of the injured crew members due to privacy concerns.
The Worcester County Fire Department dive team supported the search and recovery effort for the third crew member. That person’s name is not yet being released, pending notification of next of kin, according to the release.
Keith Koehler, NASA Wallops Flight Facility spokesman, said the Wallops Fire Department and Protective Services teams “provided mutual aid and support to the incident command at the scene. In addition, the Wallops airfield project support manager served as a liaison between the Wallops team, the Navy, and other responders at the scene aiding in the emergency response.”
The incident is under investigation and updates will be provided, according to the release.
In another incident, a Navy Navy E-2C Hawkeye aircraft that was conducting a training flight crashed in a Bloxom soybean field in August 2020. All four crew members parachuted safely from the aircraft in that crash.
The aircraft are the kinds that practice touch-and-go training operations at NASA Wallops Flight Facility.
This article was updated to include additional information.
