The student and instructor pilot in a T-6A Texan II trainer overshot a landing traffic entry pattern and failed to see a second T-6A with two onboard, thereby causing the midair collision of both airplanes last November, the Air Force said in a March 19 release on the findings of the board that investigated the incident. “The cause of this mishap was a result of pilot error,” USAF said. The accident occurred Nov. 28, 2007 near Gunshy Auxiliary Field, Miss., and resulted in the total loss of both aircraft. All four pilots sustained superficial burns and abrasions upon ejecting from the two airplanes.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.