On a Tuesday afternoon in October 2024, a specialized Navy jet simply vanished from radar. It wasn't in a war zone or a high-stakes dogfight. It was over the Cascades, a jagged stretch of Washington wilderness that locals know can be unforgiving even on a clear day. The EA 18G Growler crash Mt Rainier incident didn't just claim a multi-million dollar aircraft; it took the lives of two of the Navy’s most decorated "trailblazers."
They were part of the "Zappers." That’s Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130). If you follow naval aviation, you know these folks aren't rookies. They had just returned from a brutal nine-month deployment in the Red Sea, where they spent most of their time shooting Houthi drones out of the sky and protecting the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Honestly, the contrast is what gets you. They survived months of actual combat in one of the world's most dangerous corridors, only to go down during a routine training flight back home.
The Timeline of the October 15 Crash
The flight took off from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. It was October 15, 2024. Around 3:23 p.m., something went wrong. The aircraft, an EA-18G Growler—basically the electronic warfare version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet—slammed into the mountainside east of Mount Rainier.
For over 24 hours, nobody knew where they were.
The Navy launched everything. MH-60S helicopters, P-8 Poseidons, even ground crews from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. But the weather was "pea soup." Clouds were hanging low, and the terrain was so steep that motorized vehicles were basically useless. It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon that aerial crews finally spotted the wreckage.
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Why was it so hard to find?
- Altitude: The debris was scattered at roughly 6,000 feet.
- Terrain: We're talking about a remote, heavily wooded, and snow-covered slope.
- Visibility: Thick cloud cover and early-season snow made aerial spotting nearly impossible for the first 24 hours.
Who Were the Aviators?
The Navy doesn't use the word "trailblazer" lightly. On October 21, the identities of the crew were released after their families were notified. Both women were 31 years old. Both were Californians.
Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay "Miley" Evans was a Naval Flight Officer (NFO). She was a tactical genius, literally. She was named the 2024 Growler Tactics Instructor of the Year. You might have actually seen her before without realizing it; she was part of the all-female flyover for the 2023 Super Bowl.
Lt. Serena "Dug" Wileman was the pilot. She was a "senior first-tour" aviator who had earned her salt as a Landing Signal Officer (LSO) on the Eisenhower. If you’ve ever seen a jet land on a pitching carrier deck while the ship is being targeted by missiles, you understand the level of "cool under pressure" she possessed.
They weren't just colleagues. They were friends who bonded over being "dog moms." Evans had an Australian Shepherd named Nix; Wileman had a Chiweenie named Riley.
The Search and Recovery Mess
Finding the plane was only half the battle. Because the site was so inaccessible, the Navy had to call in the big guns: the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. These are the guys who do high-angle rescues in the middle of nowhere.
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They weren't just looking for parts. They were looking for their own.
By Sunday, October 20, the mission shifted. It was no longer a "search and rescue." It was a "recovery operation." The Navy officially declared both aviators deceased. The Washington National Guard was eventually brought in to secure the site because the Navy lacked the legal authority to block civilian hikers from wandering into the crash zone. It took until October 27 to fully wrap up the recovery on the mountain.
Investigating the Cause: Mechanical or Human?
People always want a quick answer. Was it the engines? Did they lose oxygen?
The EA-18G is a twin-engine beast. It’s built for redundancy. Generally, losing one engine doesn't drop a Growler out of the sky like a rock. Aviation experts, like former pilot John Nance, have pointed out that the electronics on these planes are designed to scream at the pilots long before they hit a mountain.
However, the Cascades are notorious for "microbursts" and sudden weather shifts. If you're flying low and fast for a training maneuver and the visibility drops to zero in seconds, the margin for error disappears.
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The Navy Safety Command has been looking at everything. Interestingly, this was the second Growler incident in a four-hour window that year, with another jet having a mishap in San Diego where the crew successfully ejected. That coincidence led to a lot of chatter about fleet-wide mechanical issues, but so far, no official report has linked the two.
Lessons from the Growler Incident
Military aviation is inherently dangerous. We tend to forget that "routine training" involves pushing machines to their absolute limits in environments that want to kill you.
The EA 18G Growler crash Mt Rainier serves as a grim reminder that the high tempo of modern deployments (like the nine months in the Red Sea) puts an incredible strain on both the hardware and the humans. The "Zappers" had been operating at a "very high level for a long time," as Vice Adm. Dan Cheever noted. When you come home from a war zone, the training doesn't stop. The pressure doesn't stop.
Actionable Insights for Following Military News:
- Wait for the Mishap Board: Official Navy investigations (Mishap Investigation Boards) can take 6–12 months. Don't buy into Twitter rumors 48 hours after a crash.
- Understand the "Why": Training missions aren't "joyrides." They are high-G, low-altitude exercises designed to keep pilots sharp for actual combat.
- Support the Families: Organizations like the Wingman Foundation specifically support naval aviation families after these types of tragedies.
The wreckage might be cleared, but the impact on the Whidbey Island community is permanent. Two of the best we had are gone, and the Cascades keep their secrets well.
If you want to stay updated on the final investigation results, keep an eye on the Naval Safety Command public releases or the NAS Whidbey Island official newsroom.