The Air Force has released the names of the two pilots killed April 23 when their T-38C training aircraft crashed at Columbus AFB, Miss. They were Maj. Blair Faulkner, 43rd Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot, and 2nd Lt. Matthew Emmons, a student pilot in Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training class 08-14. The aircraft crashed on initial take-off, according to the Columbus news release, which noted that the last fatal crash at the Mississippi pilot training base was 24 years ago. An accident investigation board is investigating the April 23 crash. (Columbus report by SrA. John Parie)
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.