Two U.S. Navy jets collided and crashed Sunday during an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, but all four crew members ejected and were reported in stable condition, military officials said.
The aircraft involved were two EA-18G Growlers assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, according to Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, a spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. The jets were performing an aerial demonstration when the mishap occurred; the cause is under investigation.
Base officials said the installation was locked down immediately after the crash and the remainder of the show was canceled. Videos recorded by spectators show four parachutes opening as the aircraft descended and then the two jets falling together and exploding on impact a short distance from the base, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Boise.
Organizer Silver Wings of Idaho, which helped plan the event, said no one on the base was injured. Kim Sykes, the group’s marketing director, said everyone’s safety was the most important outcome.
Local witness Shane Ogden described filming the formation as the aircraft approached one another. His footage appears to show the jets make contact, rotate together, and then the crew members eject; their parachutes deploy while the planes continue falling and strike the ground in a fireball.
The EA-18G Growler is an electronic-warfare version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet. Aviation experts said the fact both crews survived is unusual. Jeff Guzzetti, an aviation safety specialist, noted the jets seemed to stay attached after contact, which may have given the crews time to eject — a rare outcome in midair collisions.
“It looks like they struck each other in a very unique fashion to remain intact and kind of stick to each other, and that very well could have saved them,” Guzzetti said, adding that the incident appears to be a piloting issue rather than a mechanical failure. John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems, emphasized how little margin for error exists in air-show flying and said he was relieved everyone was able to get out.
This year’s Gunfighter Skies event was the first at Mountain Home since 2018, when a hang glider pilot died during a performance. Air-show safety has improved over decades: the International Council of Air Shows reported that average fatalities at U.S. air shows have fallen from about 3.8 per year (1991–2006) to roughly 1.1 per year since 2017, and there were no U.S. air-show deaths in 2023 or 2025. The last fatal air-show collision in the U.S. occurred in 2022 in Dallas.
Investigators expect the surviving crews will provide valuable firsthand accounts to the Navy-led inquiry, which typically means less public disclosure than civilian crash probes. Meanwhile, weather conditions around the time of the incident featured good visibility with gusts up to 29 mph (47 kph), according to the National Weather Service.
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds had headlined the two-day show. Organizers and officials are now focused on the ongoing investigation and on ensuring safety for future events. Some military air shows this year were canceled at bases supporting missions related to the conflict in Iran, officials said.
