Airmen killed in Oklahoma Air Force base crash identified

ENID, Okla. – Two U.S. Air Force airmen killed in a training jet crash at Vance Air Force Base in northwestern Oklahoma have been identified as an instructor and a student pilot.

The base said Friday that 47-year-old instructor pilot Lt. Col. John “Matt” Kincade and 23-year-old student pilot Lt. Travis Wilkie died in what Col Corey Simmons has called a “mishap” as two T-38 Talon jets were landing at the base in Enid, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northwest of Oklahoma City.

Two airmen aboard the second jet were not injured.

Simmons said the cause of the Thursday morning accident is under investigation by an Air Force safety board that functions similarly to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Simmons said it typically takes 30-60 days to determine the cause of such accidents.