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Updated: 11:34 PM Dec 29, 2010
[UPDATE] Plane Crash at Leon / Jefferson County Line
Plane Crash at Leon / Jefferson County Line
Posted: 1:07 PM Dec 29, 2010
Reporter: Eyewitness News, AP, Candace Sweat
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Authorities descend on a swampy area in Jefferson County after a navy plane crashes into the waters, sending the two pilots to the hospital.
This is the marshy area where the crash took place.
Around 10:15 Wednesday morning a Navy plane carrying a pilot and his copilot went down into the water between Old Plank and Natural Bridge road in Jefferson county.
A spokesperson from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says both pilots ejected themselves from the plane as it was going down.
The orange material seen here in the bushes is all that's left of the parachutes they used to escape.
"Both managed to walk away from the scene and from what I was told the Leon County Sheriff's Office transported them to the hospital," said Sheriff David Hobbs with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
Hobbs says the pilot and copilot were airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and are said to be doing ok.
As for the plane, a U.S. Navy T45 Goshawk Training Jet, it remains submerged in water.
A Navy spokesperson says the plane was coming from the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Now their investigative team has paired up with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to figure out what went wrong.
But for now, authorities say they're pleased that the accident didn't turn into a tragedy.
"I don't know their condition right now but I do know they were able to walk out," said Hobbs.
Hobbs said his agency will work in conjunction with Navy officials to put to together the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The pilots names have not been released at this time. And there's not word yet on what might have caused the crash.
We'll keep you updated as that information becomes available.
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[UPDATE] 12-29 5:10PM --
Tallahassee, FL (AP) - Two pilots are safe after ejecting from
a U.S. Navy training jet.
A T-45 Goshawk jet based at the Pensacola Naval Air Station
crashed shortly before noon Wednesday into a swampy area in rural
Jefferson County, which is located just east of Tallahassee in
north central Florida.
Navy spokesman Patrick Nichols told the Pensacola News Journal
that the pilots were taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution,
and no one was injured on the ground.
The names of the two pilots were not released.
The Goshawk is a small jet the Navy uses for training its pilots
on making aircraft carrier landings. It replaced the T-2 Buckeye
previously used for the carrier training role in 2008.
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[UPDATE] 12-29 2:10PM --
The plane that crashed in an uninhabited area of Jefferson County around noon was a U.S. Navy T-45 Goshawk training plane according to Jim Durwin, Director of the Tallahassee Regional Airport.
Durwin says that the crash took place 14 miles southeast of the airport. Both pilots were ok.
The plane came from Pensacola Naval Air Station, which is primarily a training base for the Navy.
Durwin said that the crash had no impact on Tallahassee airport operations. A search helicopter was sent to find the plane.
A Coast Guard HC-144 was in the area and located the crash site & parachute.
They vectored the FHP C-172 to the scene for a secondary positive ID. Both aircraft then vectored in the Sheriff Dept. helo along with ground assistance.
The USCG aircraft had comms with the downed pilots via military radio frequencies and guided them to a clear area where the helo picked them up.
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