MILITARY RELEASES RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION INTO JET CRASH THAT KILLED NEW CASTLE MAN
Norfolk, VA.—Air Force Captain Will Dubois didn’t realize his F-16 was descending until the last second before it crashed in the Middle East last December. That’s the conclusion of the investigative report released today by Air Combat Command in Virginia. The 30 year old New Castle native and Rifle High School graduate was flying in support of Operation Inherent Resolve when the fighter jet crashed and exploded just before 5am on December 1st. The Air Force won’t say exactly where the crash occurred but it confirms it did not happen in Iraq or Syria. Dubois, a graduate of CU-Boulder’s Aerospace Engineering school was a highly-decorated, respected and skilled fighter pilot who was deployed last October to conduct airstrikes on Isis terrorist groups in the region. According to the Air Force investigation, Dubois was flying the lead when his wingman experienced some problems with the landing gear door, forcing both of them to return to the base. The wingman was able to land safely but the report says Dubois was “unaware of his own rapid descent during approach to the runway.” The official report says “unrecognized descent” and the lack of time to respond caused the deadly crash.
