Pilot OK After Fighter Jet Crashes Outside Nevada Air Force Base
The contractor plays the role of the "bad guys" during military training.
— -- A civilian fighter jet supporting the 57th Wing out of Nellis Air Force Base, crashed this morning while preparing to land there.
According to Draken International, which owns the aircraft, the pilot received only minor injuries after successfully ejecting prior to the crash. He has been released from the hospital.
Draken International is a private contractor that works with the Department of Defense. At Nellis Air Force Base, the company's planes play the role of the adversaries during training missions. "We play the bad guys," said Scott Poteet, Draken International's Director of Business Development for U.S. Air Force Programs. They fly up to 10 of these flights everyday at the base in southern Nevada.
Poteet told ABC News the pilot and sole person on board the A-4K, a two-seater plane, has more than 20 years of experience flying fighter jets in the military. The pilot had completed an exercise and was preparing to land when he ejected just before the plane crashed.
There was no distress call indicating a problem prior to the crash, according to Poteet.
Two Draken International aircraft were taking part in the preceding exercises.
The private contractor has been at Nellis Air Force Base for about 6 months and has flown thousands of flights in support of the Department of Defense in its 5 years of existence.
Nellis Air Force Base is home of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.