A U.S. Navy search-and-rescue team known as the “Dust Devils” played a pivotal role in the rescue of an Air Force pilot who safely ejected from an F-16 fighter jet that crashed in Southern California last month, Navy officials said Wednesday.
The team assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, arrived at the aviator’s location a little over 30 minutes after it was informed about the crash near China Lake on Dec. 3, according to a Navy release.
The release does not provide additional details about the crash, but officials reported last month that a pilot flying an F-16C Fighting Falcon as part of a routine training flight for the Air Force’s Thunderbirds demonstration squadron safely ejected before the jet crashed near Trona, an unincorporated community near China Lake…