A U.S. Navy T-45C Goshawk training jet crashed on private farmland in eastern Mississippi on Tuesday, but both pilots ejected safely and are receiving medical evaluations, officials said.
The aircraft, assigned to Training Air Wing One (TW-1) based at Meridian Naval Air Station, went down at approximately 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT) in Noxubee County, according to the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) Public Affairs office.
"The two personnel assigned to TW-1 aboard the aircraft ejected safely and are currently being evaluated at a local medical center," CNATRA said in a statement, adding that local emergency crews and military first responders were securing the site.
Unverified images from the crash scene showed a crater littered with wreckage, including wing components and the aircraft's distinctive tail hook. Online flight tracking data indicated a T-45 with callsign "BOBCT62" – a designation commonly associated with the VT-9 Tigers squadron – lost its signal over Noxubee County around the time of the incident. CNATRA did not confirm whether that specific aircraft was involved.
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The T-45C Goshawk is a tandem-seat trainer originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and based on the British Aerospace Hawk, designed and built by BAE Systems. The aircraft has been in operation since 1997 and is used to train U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots. Each unit cost roughly $17 million at the time of production.
The crash comes as the U.S. Navy moves forward with the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) program, which aims to replace the aging T-45 fleet with a new generation of trainer aircraft. The service has been evaluating potential alternatives as the Goshawk fleet, some of which are nearly three decades old, faces sustainment challenges.
The cause of Tuesday's incident remains under investigation.
This accident marks the second U.S. military trainer crash this month. On May 12, a U.S. Air Force T-38C Talon assigned to Columbus Air Force Base, also in Mississippi, crashed in western Alabama. Both pilots in that incident ejected safely. The Air Force has since launched a Safety Investigation Board and imposed an operational pause on T-38 flights starting May 19. The Navy also lost two EA-18G Growler aircraft in a midair collision during an air show days ago.
