US Navy pilot killed in Mojave Desert training crash named as Lt Richard Bullock

Super Hornet aircraft has been involved in crashes before

Richard Bullock has been named as the US Navy pilot killed in a recent training exercise (US Navy)

The US Navy has named Lt Richard Bullock as the pilot killed during a training exercise in Calfornia’s Mojave Dessert last week.

Bullock was killed when his F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed during a training mission on Friday afternoon, the navy said in a statement on Sunday night.

He was killed in “the vicinity of” Trona, an unincorporated community in California’s San Bernardino County, located inside the Mojave Dessert.

No further details were released about the incident, which the US Navy said remains under investigation. The crash scene also remains secured and “recovery efforts are ongoing,” the navy said.

An earlier statement said the “Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Federal Firefighters and Naval Security Forces” responded to the crash site, according to the Navy Times. No civilians were injured as a result of the crash.

Bullock was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 based at the nearby Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, the navy said. The air base is home to 16 “strike fighter squadrons”, its website says.

The aircraft he was flying is manufactured by Boeing, which describes the military aircraft as “the backbone of the US Navy carrier air wing now and for decades to come” on its website.

“The Navy mourns this tragic loss alongside the family, friends and shipmates of Lt Bullock,” the statement announcing his death added.

The crash was thought to be the fourth involving a US Navy Super Hornet jet, according to the Associated Press, and the second fatal one since 2019.