- Instructor pilot was identified as 24-year-old Scot Ames Jr from Pekin, Indiana
- The name of the student pilot will be released according to Japan’s process
- The pilots were flying as part of a training mission when the T-38C Talon trainer aircraft crashed at about 5:30 p.m. Friday near Dannelly Field in Montgomery
- According to their wedding website, Ames had married his wife in September
The U.S. Air Force said Sunday that a flying instructor and a student pilot from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force were killed when a trainer jet crashed in Alabama.
The Air Force released the name of the instructor who died when the T-38C Talon trainer aircraft crashed Friday near Montgomery, Alabama.
He was identified as Scot Ames Jr., a 24-year-old instructor pilot with the 50th Flying Training Squadron at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. He was from Pekin, Indiana.
The name of the student pilot is not being released at this time, and will be provided according to Japan’s process.
The instructor pilot Scott Ames Jr, 24, (pictured with his wife Audra and their dog) who died when a T-38C Talon trainer aircraft crashed Friday near Montgomery, Alabama, killing him and a Japanese trainee pilot
The Columbus Air Force Base is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing, The wing’s mission is specialized undergraduate pilot training.
‘We are a close-knit family and the loss of two of our teammates affects us all,’ Col. Seth Graham, 14th Flying Training Wing commander, said at a Saturday press conference.
‘The strength of our bond is what will help us get through it together. My thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and our teammates today.’
The cause of the incident remains under investigation
According to his wedding website, Mr Ames married his wife Audra in June 2020. Tributes for the pilot poured in from well-wishers, expressing their condolences and tributes to the young man.
Writing her own tribute, Audra Ames posted on the platform: ‘My heart is in my throat knowing the last time I saw you was watching you drive away Friday… and the last time we spoke was telling me you loved me and would FaceTime me when you landed.
‘Thank you for making me the happiest woman in the world. Please watch over me and give me and the rest of us the strength to somehow move forward in this unimaginable tragedy.’
The pilots were flying as part of a training mission when the jet crashed at about 5:30 p.m. Friday near Dannelly Field in Montgomery.
Marshall Taggart, executive director of the Montgomery Regional Airport, told news outlets that the aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the airport. Taggart said there are houses in the area, but the jet did not hit any structures.
He told WSFA that no structures were hit by the plane, which crashed near a mobile home park.
Taggart also revealed the flight path of the jet, which originated in Columbus, Mississippi and was en route to Tallahassee, Florida.
WSFA reports vehicles sporting the emblem for the Air Force were seen arriving to the crash site.
There are Air Force bases located in both the city of origin and the destination.
The plane reportedly belong to the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base.
In October, 30-year-old US Navy Lieutenant Rhiannon Ross and 24-year-old US Coast Guard Ensign were killed in a plane crash in Foley, Alabama.
The crash missed structures on the ground, including a mobile home park nearby
Their T-6B Texan II training plane crashed into a residential neighborhood, setting a home and several cars on fire.
No injuries were reported on the ground.
An Air Force T-38 Talon supersonic jet trainer crashed near the Columbus Air Force Base in May 2018, though both pilots safely ejected from the plane.
In November 2019, two T-38 talon jets were involved in an incident during a training mission at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, which resulted in two deaths.
