4 who died in trainer crash identified - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

4 who died in trainer crash identified

The Navy will have a closed memorial service Friday at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., for two Marines, one Navy officer and a Navy retiree who died when their training jet crashed in north Georgia.

The military released the names of the four crash victims Wednesday afternoon: Charles McDaniel, 67, a retired Navy lieutenant commander and civilian contractor from Cantonment, Fla.; Marine Capt. Jason Paynter, 38, of Pensacola, Fla.; Marine 1st Lt. Shawn Nice, 26, of Levittown, Pa.; and Ensign Zachary Eckhart, 25, of Pensacola, Fla.

All four were assigned to Training Squadron 86, which trains naval flight officers, Navy officials said.

The men died Monday when their plane went down north of Atlanta near Georgia's boundaries with North Carolina and Tennessee.

Friday's service at Pensacola Naval Air Station is not open to the public.