Air Force Pilot With 6 Degrees Killed in Nevada Crash

Lt. Col. Eric Schultz died Tuesday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 9, 2017 4:31 PM CDT
Air Force Confirms: Pilot Died in Crash at Training Range
A crew chief helps a pilot prepare his plane before taking off at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas on Jan. 10, 2014.   (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher)

A US Air Force pilot has died of injuries suffered in an aircraft crash at a training range about 100 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, base officials say. A brief statement released Friday by Nellis officials said the crash that killed Lt. Col. Eric Schultz occurred during a training flight Tuesday evening at the Nevada Test and Training Range, the AP reports. The statement didn't provide a hometown or age for Schultz (Military.com lists his age as 44) or details on the crash, but it said the aircraft was assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command. The Materiel Command's website says it conducts researches and tests weapons systems. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the type of aircraft is classified, per a 99th Air Base Wing spokeswoman.

The crash, which happened around 6pm Tuesday, was the first of two consecutive-day crashes: Two fighter jets crashed on Wednesday, the base announced. The two pilots in that incident reportedly ejected from their aircraft and were released after being examined by medical staff. The Capital Gazette reports Schultz was a 1991 graduate of Annapolis High School in Maryland and that his parents, Linda and Larry Schultz, live in Annapolis. Schultz joined the Air Force in 2001 with multiple college degrees under his belt—a YouCaring page set up to help his family says there were six, including a PhD in aerospace engineering. His parents reportedly traveled to Nevada on Wednesday to be with his wife, Julie, and other family members. Schultz is also survived by five children. (More US Air Force stories.)

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