Pilot Dead in USAF Embraer A-29 Super Tucano Crash

An Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft crashed during light attack experiment killing a US Navy pilot over the White Sands Missile Range near Holloman Air Force Base, N.M, last Friday.

Lt. Christopher Carey Short, of Canandaigua, N.Y., was flying a mission over White Sand’s Red Rio Bombing Range when his prop-driven light attack aircraft crashed about 1:30 p.m. EST on June 22. Both Short and a second crew member ejected from the aircraft, according to press reports. The second crew member suffered minor injuries.

An investigation into the cause of the incident remains ongoing.

The crash comes about five weeks after the USAF kicked off the second phase of the light attack experiment at Holloman AFB on 17 May. In addition to the A-29, Textron Aviation provided a AT-6 Wolverine for the USAF to evaluate during the experiment.

The ongoing Light Attack Experiment (OA-X) is to see if a low-cost attack aircraft could replace higher-cost Air Force assets for certain missions. The Air Force cancelled a series of test flights on Friday as a result of the crash.