A Navy EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare jet with three crewmen aboard crashed Thursday in a remote wilderness area in Olympic National Forest.
All three parachuted to safety before the aircraft went down approximately six miles south of Klahowya Campground, located on U.S. Highway 101 east of Sappho.
The three were rescued by Navy and U.S. Coast Guard search teams dispatched to the crash site. Coast Guard officials said rescuers found the three aviators after spotting two parachutes, a raft and three flares.
Coast Guard and Olympic Medical Center officials in Port Angeles confirmed one of the crewmen suffered a leg injury and was airlifted to the medical center, where he was listed in stable condition late Thursday.
Hospital Administrator Mike Glenn would only identify the crewman as a 25-year-old Navy aviator.
The two uninjured crewmen were returned to Whidbey Island aboard a Navy rescue helicopter.
The rest of this story appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News sports section. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.