What was supposed to be a triumphant weekend of military aviation turned into a nightmare in about five seconds flat. Two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler jets slammed into each other midair during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho on Sunday, May 17, 2026. Both aircraft, tangled together, cartwheeled to the desert floor and exploded in a massive fireball visible for miles. And somehow, impossibly, all four crew members made it out alive.
The collision happened at approximately 12:10 p.m. MDT, about two miles northwest of the base, while the jets were performing an aerial demonstration in front of thousands of spectators. It was the second and final day of the air show, the first one held at Mountain Home in eight years. The crowd had come out for a good time. What they got instead was a scene straight out of a disaster movie, followed by the enormous relief of watching four parachutes drift safely toward the ground.
What Happened in the Sky Over Mountain Home
Video captured by spectators and posted to social media tells the story better than any written account could. The two Growlers were flying in close formation during a demonstration maneuver when they appeared to make contact. But instead of bouncing apart, the jets did something extraordinary and terrifying: they became locked together midair, one stacked on top of the other.
Within seconds, the fused aircraft pitched upward and stalled. Both crews ejected almost immediately, less than five seconds after the initial impact. The planes, still stuck together, then tumbled in a violent spin all the way down to the desert floor, where they hit the ground and detonated into a fireball that sent thick black smoke billowing into the Idaho sky.
Four parachutes were visible in the air, drifting down near the crash site. An air show announcer was heard saying, “We had four good parachutes. The crews were able to eject.” Emergency crews rushed to the scene within minutes.
The Crew Members and Their Condition
Each Growler carries a pilot and an electronic warfare officer, so four people total were aboard the two jets. All four successfully ejected and parachuted to the ground. According to Navy officials, the crew members were in stabilized condition and being evaluated by medical personnel on scene.
Col. David R. Gunter, wing commander of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home, released a statement saying, “We are incredibly thankful that everyone involved in today’s incident is safe.” He also thanked first responders and the spectators for their patience. Mountain Home Mayor Rich Sykes confirmed that no injuries beyond the flight crew were reported. Nobody on the ground at the base was hurt.
The identities of the four crew members had not been released as of Sunday evening. Air St. Luke’s provided medical support to first responders at the scene.
Why the Collision Was Survivable at All
Here’s something most people don’t realize: in a midair collision, crews almost never have a chance to eject. Everything happens too fast. The planes break apart, tumble, and there’s simply no time.
This crash was different, and aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti explained why. The way the two Growlers hit each other, they didn’t shatter on impact. Instead, they stuck together and remained relatively intact as they fell. That gave the crews precious seconds to pull their ejection handles. “It looks like they struck each other in a very unique fashion to cause them to remain intact and kind of stick to each other and that very well could have saved them,” Guzzetti said.
Analysts who reviewed the video also noted that the crew in the lower jet were incredibly lucky. The upper jet was positioned in a way that its fuselage was not directly over the lower jet’s canopy, which means the lower crew’s ejection path was clear. If that geometry had been even slightly different, this story could have ended very differently.
What Is an EA-18G Growler, Exactly?
The EA-18G Growler isn’t your standard fighter jet. It’s a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet that’s been specially modified for electronic warfare missions. Think of it as the plane that jams enemy radar so other aircraft can sneak through undetected. As Navy Lt. Kevin Lynch, a member of the demonstration team who performed earlier that weekend, put it: “We are the only electronic attack aircraft in the entire DOD.”
Boeing builds the Growler, and according to NAVAIR, each one carries a unit cost of roughly $67 million. Two destroyed in a single incident means roughly $134 million in airframe losses alone, and that’s before you factor in the sophisticated electronic warfare systems packed inside each aircraft. The two jets were identified as EA-18G 168895 “NJ-502” and EA-18G 168252 “NJ-540.”
Both aircraft were assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129, known as the “Vikings,” based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. VAQ-129 is the Fleet Replacement Squadron responsible for training all naval aviators who will fly the Growler, including partner crews from Australia’s Royal Air Force and Britain’s Royal Air Force. Before this accident, the squadron maintained a fleet of 55 Growlers.
What Spectators Saw and Felt
Thousands of families had gathered at Mountain Home for what was supposed to be a fun, free weekend event. Gates were open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, and general admission and parking were free. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds were the headlining act. The show also featured F-15Es, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a STEM expo, a kids’ activity zone, and even a sensory safe zone.
Eyewitness David Katz was in a vehicle with his two sons when the collision happened. “We saw the smoke and fireball,” Katz told reporters. “Apparently they collided there. One of the planes was impacted and started burning in the air.” He said bystanders were anxiously trying to determine whether the pilots had made it out as emergency vehicles screamed toward the crash site.
Photographer Shane Ogden happened to be filming the two jets as they flew together. His footage captured the entire sequence, from the moment of contact through the ejections and the fireball on the ground. “I was just filming thinking they were going to split apart and that happened and I filmed the rest,” Ogden said. He left quickly after the crash to stay out of the way of emergency responders.
The Aftermath and the Investigation
Mountain Home Air Force Base went into immediate lockdown following the collision. The remainder of Sunday’s air show was canceled, including the Thunderbirds’ scheduled closing performance. Non-essential personnel were evacuated from the flight line.
Idaho Transportation reported that State Highway 167 was closed from Simco Road to SH-67 near the base, and officials anticipated the closure would last multiple days to accommodate the crash investigation and debris recovery.
The Navy will lead the formal investigation, which means the public probably won’t get nearly as much information as they would in a civilian aviation incident. Investigators do have one major advantage: all four crew members survived and can tell investigators exactly what they saw and experienced in the moments leading up to the collision. That’s a rare gift in crash investigations.
The investigation will likely examine whether the collision resulted from mechanical failure, environmental factors, or pilot error during high-G, close-proximity maneuvers. The National Weather Service reported good visibility at the time, though winds were gusting up to 29 mph around the time of the crash.
A Community Event That Turned Into Something Else Entirely
The Gunfighter Skies 2026 Air Show was a big deal for Mountain Home. The base, located about 50 miles south of Boise, hadn’t hosted one in eight years, and the community had poured real effort into making it happen. Silver Wings of Idaho, a volunteer board that helped plan and support the event, released an emotional statement after the crash:
“Today was an emotional and difficult day at Gunfighter Skies. While the events were not what anyone expected, we are incredibly grateful and relieved that all four pilots involved are safe. That is, and always will be, the most important thing.”
The statement went on to acknowledge the families, crews, and behind-the-scenes workers who made the event possible, and recognized the “incredible response” from the base and local, county, and state agencies.
Kim Sykes, marketing director with Silver Wings, kept it simple: “Everyone is safe and I think that’s the most important thing.”
What Comes Next
The loss of two Growlers is a real operational hit for the Navy. With a combined value of roughly $134 million and the electronic warfare systems they carried, these aren’t planes you just replace off a shelf. VAQ-129’s fleet of 55 aircraft is now two shorter, and the Growler Demonstration Team’s future performances are almost certainly on hold pending the investigation’s outcome.
But here’s what everyone keeps coming back to: four people walked away from a midair collision between two fighter jets. Four parachutes opened. Four crew members made it to the ground in one piece. In a situation where the math almost always goes the other way, that counts for something enormous. The investigation will sort out the how and the why. For now, the fact that this didn’t end in tragedy feels like a small miracle over the Idaho desert.