2 Navy crew members declared dead in Washington jet crash, efforts underway to recover bodies

The Navy on Sunday declared two aviators dead after their jet crashed in northeast Washington during an Oct. 15 training mission.

A search-and-rescue effort that has been going on since the crash has now shifted to a recovery operation, a Navy official said.

"It is with a heavy heart that we share the loss of two beloved Zappers,” Cmdr. Timothy Warburton of the Navy's Electronic Attack Squadron 130 -- which goes by the nickname "Zappers" -- said in a statement. "Our priority right now is taking care of the families of our fallen aviators and ensuring the well-being of our Sailors and the Growler community. We are grateful for the ongoing teamwork to safely recover the deceased."

The names of the deceased crewmembers will not be released until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified, according to the Navy.

Wreckage of the EA-18G Growler jet was located Wednesday afternoon on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier, military officials said.

Search-and-rescue crews faced mountainous terrain, cloudy weather and low visibility during the search for the crew, Navy officials said in a statement last week.

The jet, from Electronic Attack Squadron 130, crashed at about 3:23 p.m. on Tuesday, about 30 miles west of Yakima, according to the Navy.

The jet crashed after launching a training flight from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, officials said.

An MH-60S helicopter crew was immediately launched to search for the missing aviators and wreckage, officials said. Additional rescue units from the U.S. Navy Fleet Reconnaissance Squadron One, Patrol Squadron, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue, and the U.S. Army 4-6 Air Calvary Squadron from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington were also involved in the search, officials said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, according to the Navy's statement.

The Growler aircraft, which according to the Navy is worth about $67 million, is "the most advanced technology in airborne Electronic Attack and stands as the Navy's first line of defense in hostile environments."

The 130 squadron adopted the nickname "Zappers" when it was commissioned as the Carrier Early Warning Squadron 13 in 1959, the military said.

The squadron was most recently deployed to the Southern Red Sea, where it carried out seven pre-planned strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, according to a statement.

The Zappers also carried out some 700 combat missions "to degrade the Houthi capability to threaten innocent shipping," according to a press release announcing the squadron's return to Washington in July.