Training new military pilots to fly jets is a dangerous and necessary business.
Sadly, that old truth rang true again Nov. 19 when two T-38C Talon trainers crashed on the runway at Laughlin AFB near Del Rio.
The accident killed Air Force 2nd Lt. Anthony D. Wentz, 23, of Falcon, Colo., and injured two others. One was treated at and released from Val Verde Regional Medical Center in Del Rio, and the other remains in critical condition at Brooke Army Medical Center.
The tragedy underscores the bravery and sacrifice of those defending our nation. An important way for the public to honor their service is to pay attention, ask questions and demand transparency.
We’re paying attention, and we’ve noticed the Air Force has released few details about the Laughlin accident. According to Express-News reporting, the service wouldn’t reveal something as simple as whether the aircraft were landing or taking off.
The move is a departure from responses to other mishaps and another example of the military’s slow slide toward opaqueness.
This hesitation goes against the military’s principle of “maximum disclosure, minimum delay” and the Air Force’s own guidance to “release unclassified facts about the mission the aircraft and crew were on when the accident occurred.”
“Describe the purpose of the flight,” says the service’s public affairs guidance, “and give as many facts about the mission as security permits.”
Laughlin and its headquarters — Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph — so far have done neither.
The base’s training regimen is not classified, so why veil whether the planes were landing or taking off, let alone other information? When queried, spokespeople at Laughlin and AETC punted and said the incident was under investigation.
The Laughlin crash resembles an accident that occurred two years earlier, on Nov. 21, 2019, at Vance AFB, Okla., when a pair of T-38s collided while performing a formation landing — a maneuver in which two aircraft flying close together land nearly simultaneously. The instructor, Lt. Col. John “Matt” Kincade, 47, and his student pilot, 2nd Lt. Travis Wilkie, 23, died in the accident.
The Air Force’s investigation report cited pilot error, and after family outcry in the aftermath, the service eventually banned formation landings.
While formation landings may be banned, other formation flying remains part of pilot training.
Did the Laughlin crash involve formation flying? The Air Force needs to answer this and other questions.
People are better able to understand training accidents when the military lays out the basic facts early. However, the rumor mill spins faster when spokespeople clam up.
Saying nothing because the truth is uncomfortable or inconvenient is a breach of trust and a hit on credibility. The Air Force’s silence on the Laughlin crash offers a reminder that to maintain public trust, government agencies must be open and accountable. A lack of information only fuels speculation.
The Department of Defense’s principles of information say that “information will not be classified or otherwise withheld to protect the government from criticism or embarrassment.”
The truth of the Laughlin crash will come with the Air Force Accident Investigation Board report, but that could take several months.
Five fatal T-38 crashes since 2017 have claimed eight pilots’ lives. There have been at least three other nonfatal accidents in the same period. The nearly 60-year-old aircraft is slated to be replaced with the T-7A Red Hawk beginning in 2023.
In every community, and especially one like the San Antonio area, where T-38s fly over thousands of residents nearly every day, the Air Force owes transparency.
We need the military to organize, train and equip forces to defend our country. We don’t need it to shield us from the truth.
San Antonio Express-News
