T-6B Training Aircraft Crashes in Alabama

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ARLINGTON, Va. — A U.S. Navy T-6B Texan II training aircraft crashed near Foley, Alabama, Jan. 17. The instructor pilot and student naval aviator ejected successfully.

The T-6B crashed at approximately 10:50 CST in an unpopulated area near Barin Naval Outlying Field near Foley, the Chief of Naval Air Training Public Affairs Office said in a release. The two flyers were treated for minor injuries.

The T-6B was assigned to Training Air Wing Five at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. The T-6B is flown by three training squadrons at Whiting Field, VT-2, VT-3 and VT-6, to train naval aviators for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and some foreign militaries. The aircraft also is flown by two training squadrons — VT-27 and VT-28 — assigned to Training Air Wing Four at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas.

The aircraft loss was the Navy’s first in calendar 2023 and the first loss of a Navy T-6B since October 2020, when another — also assigned to Training Air Wing Five — crashed near Foley.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.