An instructor and student pilot were both killed in a T-45 crash in an eastern Tennessee forest, Navy officials confirmed. The aircraft was the T-45 that was reported missing yesterday.

“At approximately 9:40 a.m., Training Air Wing ONE, based at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., confirmed the T-45 belonging to Training Squadron Seven that went missing yesterday afternoon has crashed in East Tennessee,” Lt. Elizabeth Feaster wrote in a press release.

Navy investigating link between Tennessee crash site and missing T-45
Navy investigating link between Tennessee crash site and missing T-45

Navy officials haven’t yet confirmed that a reported aircraft crash Sunday afternoon in Cherokee National Forest in southeastern Tennessee, was in fact a missing Navy T-45 training jet, Navy sources say.

By: Mark D. Faram

“Two pilots were aboard the aircraft, an instructor and a student. The pilots did not survive the incident. Names of the pilots are being withheld until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.”

An investigation to determine the cause of the mishap will soon be underway, she said, and a team is already on the way to the crash site, which is about 45 miles south of Knoxville, Tennessee.