U.S. Navy led cleanup of jets that crashed near Mountain Home. What did it cost?
The U.S. Navy has spent millions of dollars on Idaho cleanup efforts associated with a fighter jet collision at a Mountain Home air show last month that involved two E/A-18G Growler aircraft.
Navy public affairs specialist Liane Nakahara told the Idaho Statesman in an email Thursday that the Navy has spent approximately $2 million to date to remove the wreckage of the jets and “potentially hazardous materials” such as jet fuel from the crash site near the Mountain Home Air Force Base.
Each E/A-18G Growler was 60 feet long, had a wingspan of nearly 45 feet and weighed about 33,000 pounds when empty, according to aircraft specifications from the Navy’s website. The jets cost $68 million apiece, according to the specs, bringing the total cost of the collision to at least $138 million.
The $2 million cleanup cost also includes landscape restoration and repair work on Grand View Road, or Idaho 167, which reopened Thursday after a nearly monthlong closure following the crash and a wildfire sparked by the incident.
The aircraft collided in midair during the Gunfighter Skies air show on May 17. All four crew members, who military officials previously said were from the Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 from Whidbey Island in Washington state, ejected and survived the crash with minimal or no injuries.
Nakahara said a Navy crew removed a damaged section of the highway and excavated the ground nearby, then backfilled the land and began to repair the roadway after approval from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
“All road repairs were conducted in close collaboration with Idaho Transportation Department,” Nakahara said.
In a news release Thursday, the Idaho Transportation Department said 370 feet of highway was repaired and the shoulders of the road were rebuilt.
