Several television stations in Washington state are reporting a military plane that took off this morning from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island has crashed, killing three people on board.
KREM-TV was the first to break the news that a plane had crashed in Lincoln County. The Harrington City Clerk's office reported to KREM-TV that they received an email confirming three people were killed in the crash.
Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers told Seattle television station KOMO-TV the Navy plane crashed near Harrington about 9 this morning:
He said no survivors were found and deputies were in the process of helping cordon off the crash site while waiting for investigators to arrive.
Odessa airport manager Stan Dammel flew over the crash site after hearing of the accident, and told KOMO it looked like an ink spot:
"There was no sign of an aircraft. Except there's a pretty deep depression, a hole in the ground, and a lot of debris scattered around."
A Department of Defense news release confirms that the downed aircraft was an EA-6B Prowler. The Prowler is a twin-engine aircraft with room for a pilot and three electronic countermeasures officers.
