Wednesday's incident was the fourth involving T-38s within the past year.? Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Jackie Jastrzebski.
T-38s at Sheppard AFB, Texas, returned to flight Wednesday after Tuesday’s crash involving a Talon on the base’s runway.
Two pilots, one from the German Air Force and one USAF pilot on temporary duty at Sheppard from Vance AFB, Okla., were taken to medical facilities after ejecting from a T-38 that “departed the runway” before takeoff Tuesday morning.
Flying operations were grounded Tuesday, with the 80th Operations Group resuming flight on Wednesday afternoon, according to Air Education and Training Command.
Other T-38 bases across AETC did not ground their aircraft following the mishap. Wednesday’s incident was the fourth involving T-38s within the past year. In November 2017, one pilot was killed and another injured when their Talon crashed near Laughlin AFB, Texas. Last month, a T-38 crashed near Vance and another Talon crashed in May near Columbus AFB, Miss. In those mishaps, the pilots were able to eject.
In May, following the Columbus crash, AETC boss Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast said there was not a trend in the mishaps.