Four Navy pilots eject safely after jet collision at Idaho air show

Two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler jets collided during a demonstration at the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, but all four crew members ejected safely and were reported in stable condition.

The crash came around 12:10 p.m. MDT on Sunday, May 17, 2026, while the aircraft from Electronic Attack Squadron 129, based at Whidbey Island, Washington, were performing an aerial demonstration. "All four of the air crew successfully ejected," Cmdr. Amelia Umayam said.

Videos posted by spectators showed the jets coming together in midair, four parachutes deploying, and the aircraft falling before impact and explosion. The National Weather Service reported good visibility and winds gusting up to 29 mph, or 47 kph, around the time of the collision.

Mountain Home Air Force Base went into lockdown after the crash, emergency responders rushed to the scene, and the remainder of the air show was canceled. Nobody on the military base was hurt.

The EA-18G Growler is a variant of the F/A-18 Super Hornet equipped with electronic warfare systems, a platform built for demanding operations but now at the center of a public safety review. The incident is under investigation, and attention will turn to how the demonstration was managed, what spacing and recovery procedures were in place, and whether the weather and crowd setting changed the margin for error.

The collision also carries unusual weight because Reuters-based coverage said the Gunfighter Skies Air Show was the first at Mountain Home Air Force Base in eight years and the third major incident there in 23 years. That history includes a fatal civilian hang-glider accident at the 2018 event, a reminder that the risk at public military demonstrations reaches beyond spectacle and lands squarely on safety, oversight, and the limits of what air shows can absorb.