Navy ID’s Two Dead ‘Trailblazing’ Aviators Killed In Crash: ‘Tragic Loss’

The U.S. Navy identified the two aviators killed in a crash in Washington last week as two “trailblazing” women.
Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay P. “Miley” Evans, a Naval flight officer, and Lt. Serena N. “Dug” Wileman, a Naval aviator, were killed in a EA-18G Growler crash on October 15. Both were 31 years old and from California.
The Boeing EA-18G Growler is a two-seater carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft.
The aircraft was located on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier on Wednesday. Multiple search and rescue teams, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter, participated in the search for the aircraft.
The search was complicated by mountainous terrain, cloudy weather and low visibility.
The aircraft from Electronic Attack Squadron 130 crashed after launching a training flight from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The base houses all Navy tactical electronic warfare squadrons operating the Growler in the U.S.
The aviators are being remembered for their service to the nation.
“More than just names and ranks, they were role models, trailblazers, and women whose influence touched countless people on the flight deck and well beyond,” the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group Two and Carrier Air Wing 3 said in a statement to ABC News.
A U.S. Navy spokesperson told Newsweek that the cause of the crash is under investigation.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with the family, friends, and teammates who are impacted. Grief counseling services and support are being made available through Navy support staff,” the spokesperson said.
President Joe Biden called the incident a “tragic loss.”
“They were among our nation’s finest and had just recently returned to the United States after an extended deployment to the Middle East defending against Houthi missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea,” Biden said in a statement. “We thank the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and Yakima County Tribal and local authorities for their efforts to locate and recover these two brave and talented young aviators. We pray for their families, loved ones and squadron-mates, and we will always honor their service and sacrifice.”
Evans completed multiple combat strikes into Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, making her one of few women to fly combat missions over land.
She also participated in an all-female Super Bowl flyover at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in 2023. The moment commemorated 50 years of women flying in the Navy.
Evans was named the Growler Tactics Instructor of the Year this year.
Wileman also flew on multiple combat missions into the Houthi-controlled territories of Yemen.
The U.S. army has grappled with at least 12 serious helicopter crashes this year, leaving multiple people dead.
Chief Warrant Officers Bryan Andrew Zemek and Derek Joshua Abbott were killed in an AH-64D helicopter crash in Mississippi on February 23.
The aircraft went down west of Booneville in a rural wooded area during a “routine” training flight, Army Times reported.
Two National Guard soldiers and a border patrol agent were killed on March 8 in a UH-72 Lakota helicopter crash near the US-Mexico border in Texas. Another soldier on the aircraft was critically injured.
The helicopter was assigned to the federal government’s border security mission, Joint Task Force North said in a press release. It went down near Rio Grande City.
An Air Force instructor pilot was killed in May in a deadly mishap at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita County, Texas.
Capt. John Robertson died after the ejection seat of a T-6A Texan II airplane activated during ground operations, a Sheppard Air Force Base spokesperson previously told Newsweek.
Just eight weeks prior, an airman was fatally injured on March 15 while performing maintenance on an F-22 fighter jet at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, an Air Force spokesperson previously told Newsweek. The airman was 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Charles A. Crumlett.
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