U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeye aircraft crashes near NASA flight center

On 31 August, the U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeye surveillance aircraft crashed near the NASA flight center on Wallops Island during a training flight. 

“The two pilots and two crewmembers bailed out of the aircraft safely,” a statement from Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg of Naval Air Force Atlantic said.

The E-2C based in Norfolk at Naval Station Norfolk, a command-and-control type aircraft with a large, distinctive radar dish atop its fuselage, crashed in the vicinity of Wallops Island at about 3:50 p.m., Cragg said. The plane is capable of carrying out surveillance missions and can be launched from aircraft carriers.

Virginia State Police say the crew of the E-2C Hawkeye – two pilots and two aircrew – is safe following a crash involving a U.S. Navy plane in Accomack County Monday.

State police were alerted about the crash just before 4 p.m. Monday. Troopers arrived to find the wreckage of the aircraft near the intersection of Berry and Mason roads in Bloxom.

Viewer submitted pictures show the aftermath of the Navy plane crash in Accomack County. Stephen Gardner took these photos and says the plane crashed behind his grandparents’ house in Bloxom.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Both roads closed at the intersection during to the crash investigation. A detour was set up.