Marines pause flight operations for 24 hours after 2 jets crash in less than a week
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The U.S. Marine Corps has ordered all of its aircraft to stand down for one day after two F/A-18C Hornets from the same squadron crashed in the past week. One crash killed a pilot.
"There will be an operational pause for all [Marine Air Wings], not including deployed units for one day within the next seven business days," said Capt. Sarah Burns, a Marine spokesperson told Fox News in an email Thursday. Burns called the safety stand-down "routine."
Earlier this week, Fox News was first to report the second crash of a Marine F/A-18C Hornet in less than a week. In all, three planes from the same squadron, VMFA-232, have crashed in less than one year.
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Marine commanders can decide exactly when within the next week to pause flights, Burns told the Marine Corps Times, which was first to report news of the 24-hour stand-down.
The first F/A-18C crash, in Southern California on July 28, killed 36-year-old Marine Maj. Richard Norton, known to family and friends as Sterling, who was based at Marine Air Station Miramar.
On Tuesday, another F/A-18C crash left a Navy pilot hospitalized. The incident unfolded east of Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada, a defense official said.
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This past October, Marine Maj. Taj Sareen was killed when his F-18 Hornet crashed near RAF Lakenheath in eastern England.
Fox News was first to report the dire state of Marine Corps aviation. During a visit to two Marine Corps bases in April, Fox News learned that nearly 70% of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets and a similar number of Ch-53 Super Stallion helicopters couldn't fly.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.