--- description: An air force pilot was killed after a military jet crashed near the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. title: U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Pilot Killed in Third Military Air Crash This Week image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7265be5078f7a292/69892cea929fadddb7bf0303/air-force-thunderbirds.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Pilot Killed in Third Military Air Crash This Week by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2018 12:28 PM CUT  US Air Force F-16 Thunderbirds perform during the airshow at Joint Andrews Air Base in Maryland on September 16, 2017. US Air Force F-16 Thunderbirds perform during the airshow at Joint Andrews Air Base in Maryland on September 16, 2017.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2018 12:28 PM CUT A U.S. Air Force pilot died after his jet crashed in Nevada during routine exercises on Wednesday, military officials said. The [Thunderbirds pilot](http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/19909/thunderbirds-f-16-pilot-pronounced-dead-in-nevada-crash "undefined"), whose identity has not yet been released, was killed after his F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed over the Nevada Testa and Training Range during a routine aerial demonstration training flight, the [U.S. Air Force said](http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1485155/thunderbirds-aircraft-mishap/ "undefined") in a statement. Officials are investigating the cause of the crash, according to the Air Force. The incident marked the third U.S. military aircraft crash this week and the fifth fatality. Four [Marines were killed](http://time.com/5227291/marine-helicopter-crash-california/ "undefined") in a helicopter crash while practicing desert landings in Southern California on Tuesday, officials said. Earlier that day, a Marine AV-8B Harrier attack jet crashed after taking off from the Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport. The pilot is reported to be in stable condition, according to [Stars and Stripes](https://www.stripes.com/news/pilot-killed-in-f-16-crash-in-nevada-3rd-military-aircraft-crash-in-2-days-1.520468 "undefined"). The Air Force said the Thunderbirds team will no longer participate at the March Air Reserve Base’s “The March Field Air and Space Expo.” U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Pilot Killed In Plane Crash ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5229082/air-force-thunderbirds-pilot-dead-nevada-crash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5229082/air-force-thunderbirds-pilot-dead-nevada-crash/"},"headline":"U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Pilot Killed in Third Military Air Crash This Week","datePublished":"2018-04-05T12:28:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:53:05.347Z","description":"The military jet crashed near the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada","url":"https://time.com/5229082/air-force-thunderbirds-pilot-dead-nevada-crash/","keywords":["Military","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7265be5078f7a292/69892cea929fadddb7bf0303/air-force-thunderbirds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7265be5078f7a292/69892cea929fadddb7bf0303/air-force-thunderbirds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-DEFENCE-AIRSHOW","caption":"US-DEFENCE-AIRSHOW","creditText":"Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5229082/air-force-thunderbirds-pilot-dead-nevada-crash/","name":"U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Pilot Killed in Third Military Air Crash This Week"}}]}] ```