N AS WHIDBEY ISLAND – The U.S. Navy has temporarily suspended flight operations for all F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and E/A-18G Growlers following an on-deck emergency at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
According to the Navy, an E/A-18G jet assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 132 experienced an on-deck emergency at the base around 11:00 PST Friday.
The aircraft was damaged during the emergency and both aircrew suffered injuries. The injured aircrew were transported by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation, according to the Navy.
Naval Air Forces has temporarily suspended all flight operations for the Super Hornets and Growlers as a safety precaution since they share common aircraft systems.
The Navy says exceptions are being made on a case-by-case basis dependent on operational requirements.
The operational pause is meant to allow both Naval Air Systems Command and Boeing engineers time to investigate what happened.
Stay with News 3 for more on this developing story.
