The Navy has identified two crew members missing and later pronounced dead after an EA-18G Growler fighter jet crashed in Washington state last week.
Naval aviator Lt. Serena “Doug” Wileman, 31, and naval flight officer Lt. Cmdr. Lindsey “Miley” Evans, 31, of California, was found dead Oct. 15 after a routine training flight crashed into rugged terrain east of Mount Rainier, the Navy said in a statement Monday. announced that it had been done.
“More than just their names and ranks, they were role models, trailblazers, and women who inspired countless lives on the flight deck and beyond,” the Navy said. release.
The men, who were members of the 130th Electronic Attack Squadron at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, were discovered Oct. 16 in a remote, snowy, heavily wooded area about 6,000 feet above sea level. The rugged terrain made the wreckage difficult to reach until this weekend, and Army Special Forces soldiers were sent to help.
Wilman commissioned into the Navy in July 2018 and joined the squadron known as “Zappers” in November 2022, according to his Navy biography. This was his first assignment after flight training.
Evans joined the Navy in August 2010 and was commissioned as an officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in May 2014. She previously worked for Zappers from November 2017 to August 2020 and again for Zappers from September 2023.
The two recently traveled aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower to “maintain freedom of navigation in international waterways” and to “maintain freedom of navigation in international waterways” by visiting the southern Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. He had just returned from a nine-month deployment. “The Houthis have the ability to threaten innocent vessels,” the Navy said in an earlier statement.
During their deployment, they were two of the few women to fly combat missions against the Houthis in Yemen and participated in multiple attacks against the militants.
“While deployed, both Evans and Wileman distinguished themselves in combat operations,” the Navy said. “Their efforts directly contributed to the Navy's mission to protect American and Allied forces while keeping the seas open and free with precision and purpose. These role models inspired future generations of naval officers and We cemented our tradition by creating history that inspired aviators.”
