A U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed on July 31, 2019 in Death Valley National Park, injuring seven people who were at a scenic overlook where aviation enthusiasts watch military pilots speeding low through a chasm dubbed Star Wars Canyon. The crash sent dark smoke billowing in the air, said Aaron Cassell, who was working at his family’s Panamint Springs Resort about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away and was the first to report the crash to park dispatch. “I just saw a black mushroom cloud go up,” Cassell told The Associated Press. “Typically you don’t see a mushroom cloud in the desert.” The single-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet that was on a routine training mission.
A Navy statement reported the pilot was 33-year-old Lt. Charles Z. Walker. The Super Hornet was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-151 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California’s Central Valley. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.