Two US Navy EA-18G Growler jets collided in mid-air during an aerial demonstration at Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho on Sunday, sending all four crew members ejecting to safety as the aircraft spiralled to the ground in a fireball. The collision occurred at approximately 12:10pm local time, about two miles from the base, during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show.
Commander Amelia Umayam, a spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet, confirmed that the two jets belonged to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129), based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state. Both aircraft were performing as part of the air show's scheduled demonstration by the US Navy's E/A-18G "Vikings" Growler Demo Team when they made contact. Video footage captured by a spectator and widely circulated on social media shows the two aircraft approaching, colliding, and spiralling downward together, while four parachutes opened in the sky seconds before the planes struck the ground and exploded into a fireball visible for several kilometres. All four crew members were evaluated by medical personnel at the scene, and no injuries were reported among base personnel or spectators. Mountain Home Air Force Base was placed on lockdown following the incident, and a section of State Route 167, where the wreckage came to rest, is expected to remain closed for several days while investigators work.
The National Weather Service reported generally good visibility at the time, though winds were gusting up to around 47 kilometres per hour (29 mph). The cause of the collision is under investigation. Sunday's event, headlined by the US Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team, marked the return of the Gunfighter Skies Air Show after an eight-year pause — the previous edition, held in 2018, ended with the death of a hang glider pilot during a performance.
The EA-18G Growler is the electronic warfare variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet and serves as the US Navy's principal carrier-based platform for suppressing enemy air defences. The incident comes during what industry leaders describe as an unusually safe period for American air shows. John Cudahy, president and chief executive of the International Council of Air Shows, noted that the historical average of fatalities at US air shows has fallen from roughly two per year to approximately one over the past decade, with no deaths recorded in either 2024 or 2025. The last multiple-fatality accident occurred in Dallas in 2022, when two vintage military aircraft collided, killing six people. Sunday's collision, while dramatic, appeared to add no fatalities to that record.