Two people are dead after a Jeep Grand Cherokee collided with an F/A-18E Super Hornet in California. The female passenger in the Jeep died at the scene and the male driver died later in the hospital after the SUV ran into the horizontal stabilizer of the fighter on the ramp at Lemore Naval Air Station on Thursday.
Lemore is one of three "master jet bases" run by the Navy to keep aircraft carriers supplied with crews and aircraft so the crash caused a stir. The Navy set up a temporary command center as a response to what was initially feared to be a targeted attack on the base but as details emerged it seems the dramatic incident was just a horrible accident.
At a hastily arranged news conference later in the day on Thursday, Capt. Monte Ashelman, the CO of the base, said there will be plenty of investigations about how the Jeep managed to smash through a gate and run amok on the base before hitting the Hornet.
The drama began with routine inquiry by a California Highway Patrol officer on a state highway near the base. The Jeep took off and the CHP officer was joined by a CHP helicopter on the chase. The police helicopter followed the Jeep around the base with the help of air traffic controllers until the collision. The aircraft is damaged but repairable. Names of the two deceased haven't been released.
By Russ Niles
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