Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (2024)

MERTZON, TX —A Czechoslovakian-made fighter jet crashed on a ranch just northwest of Mertzon. According to a witness who saw it happen as well as the air traffic control flight track, the jet was flying unusual raster patterns around San Angelo and had just departed the San Angelo airspace headed towards Midland, climbing to 10,000 feet

At 4:08 p.m. Tuesday, the flight path ends over the Rocker B Ranch north of Barnhart when the L-39 Albatross recorded a high rate of descent of over 2,100 feet per minute.

According to witnesses, the jet had cameras mounted at several places. Those cameras were fetched and taken away from San Angelo quickly after the crash, we were told.

People with knowledge of the crash landing are tight-lipped. The Irion County Sheriff would not talk to us. Reports from the field are that workers who arrived at the crash site were concerned about the “Russian” markings and words on the plane.

Usually, when an incident like this happens, the National Transportation Safety Board dispatches a team of crash investigators. Concurrently with the start of the investigation, usually within hours, the NTSB Newsroom on Twitter announces the crash. This incident happened over 24 hours ago and there has been no official statement from any government agency.

A call to the NTSB Response Operations Center transferred to NTSB Media Relations in Washington, DC. The NTSB confirmed that there was no investigation initiated into the incident.

Between Irion County Sheriff W.A. Estes not talking to the news media, an absence of an NTSB investigation, and no one wanting to go on the record about the crash, our eyebrows are raised. The NTSB said that depending upon the circ*mstances of the incident, the local FAA office may conduct the investigation. It appears from the flight track that the jet was operating under Visual Flight Rules, or VFR, so the local FAA may not even be aware of the crash.

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (1)
Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (2)

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (3)

An earlier photo of the L-39 N343WT that crashed on the Rocker B ranch on May 2, 2023. (UGC from FlightAware.com)

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (4)

One anonymous source told us that the fighter experienced a compressor stall, flaming out the engine. Unable to relight the engine, the pilot aimed the jet at a ranch road located north of Barnhart and hoped for the best. Some L-39s in civilian use are equipped with ejection seats, some are not. We do not know if the pilot had the option to eject. According to the best data we have, the L-39 touched down at a very high rate of descent of 2,116 feet per minute.

After touchdown, the jet went out of control. Either it was too fast or it veered off the ranch road — or both. It ended up crashing through Mesquite brush before coming to a stop with its landing gear relatively undamaged, according to the photos we saw. We were told the pilot walked away from the crash landing.

This L-39 is registered to a U.S. owner in Pearland near Houston called Phantom Phlyers, LLC. The L-39 is considered to be a high performance "warbird" operating under an Experimental Exhibition Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. Warbirds have been highlighted by the FAA since the tragic crash of the WWII era B-17 Flying Fortress called the Texas Raiders that crashed at Dallas Executive Airport during the annual CAF “Airsho 22” last November. In mid-April, there were reports that the remaining B-17s that are still flying may be grounded by the FAA due to wing spar issues.

The L-39 is a two-seat high performance jet trainer used in the Warsaw Pact. In the 1990s, after the Berlin Wall fell, the L-39 was sold all over the world and is the most widely used military jet trainer in the world.

The airplane will likely be loaded onto a flatbed trailer and removed from the crash site soon, we were told.

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Yawn.

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The rumors that this was actually some kind of precursor to a possible nuclear attack are beyond preposterous.

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In other words, no big friggin' deal. I think the time I saw a restored Catalina sub hunter land (splash?)on Amistad was much more interesting. That was a hoot, since we were in its way on Devils River. Suffice it to say we moved.

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"the local FAA may not even be aware" This is about the most mayhem-stoking thingI've heard of since the martians invaded us in 1938. Why not contact a pilot friend first before writing this piece of drivel? Whata joke of an article.

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Major chuckle.

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I'm with you on this.

With all of the extreme partisanship going on these days it seems like distrust of any government provided information or narrative is at an all time high. Still, that's no reason for the rumor mill to conclude that the object that came down was some sort of foreign spying aparatus - or even more ridiculous - a crashed UAP/"UFO."

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (16)

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Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking (2024)

FAQs

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking? ›

Mysterious Jet Fighter Crashes Near Mertzon and No One is Talking. At 4:08 p.m. Tuesday, the flight path ends over the Rocker B Ranch north of Barnhart when the L-39 Albatross recorded a high rate of descent of over 2,100 feet per minute. According to witnesses, the jet had cameras mounted at several places.

Was there a plane crash near Mertzon? ›

IRION COUNTY, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — A plane crash in the Concho Valley over the weekend has taken the lives of three according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The fatal crash of the Piper PA28, occurred on Nov. 26 in a field near Mertzon, Texas 30 miles from San Angelo according to the FAA.

What was the most heartbreaking plane crash? ›

Following the mention of the Japan Airlines Flight 123 disaster, it's equally important to remember the catastrophic event of the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision. This devastating incident, which occurred on November 12, 1996, holds the unfortunate title of being the deadliest mid-air collision in aviation history.

Was flight 2501 ever found in 2024? ›

No major piece of wreckage ever was found. Today, Flight 2501 is listed on nearly every UFO website as a strange anomaly since some in the Wisconsin area reported a bright light over the lake about two hours after the event.

What was the Boeing crash recently? ›

January 8, 2020: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 operated by a Boeing 737-800, crashed shortly after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, Iran, bound for Kyiv, Ukraine. There were no survivors among the 167 passengers and 9 crew.

What was the plane that kept crashing? ›

Specifically, it drew fresh scrutiny to the Boeing 737 Max planes, which have been involved in two past crashes and have been the subject of prior software glitches.

Where did the 1977 plane crash happen? ›

The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Is Manifest based on a true story? ›

Manifest isn't based on a true story per se, but it is partly inspired by the unexplained disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which perplexed millions of people when the story broke in March 2014. On the way to China from a Malaysian airport, the plane disappeared and was surprisingly never found.

Was the wreckage of Flight 2501 found? ›

It is known that Flight 2501 was entering a squall line and turbulence, but since the plane's wreckage underwater was not found, the cause of the crash was never determined. There is output from a hindcast simulation of the possible weather conditions during the event.

How many flights are missing in the world? ›

Research tells us that there have been as many as about 84 missing aircrafts since 1948 which have vanished without trace. Only half a dozen were found after extensive searches.

Has the 777 ever crashed? ›

As of May 2024, the 777 has been involved in 31 aviation accidents and incidents, including five hull loss accidents out of eight total hull losses with 542 fatalities including one ground casualty.

How many whistleblowers has Boeing killed? ›

Following the deaths of two Boeing whistleblowers, an attorney who represented them says there are at least 10 more who are determined to come forward.

What was the Boeing whistleblower saying? ›

The engineer said he studied Boeing's own data and concluded “that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that could significantly reduce the airplane's safety and the life cycle.”

Where did the planes crash? ›

Nineteen terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex and a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

Where did flight 93 crash at? ›

Where did Flight 93 crash? The plane crashed in an open field next to a wooded area in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania at 10:03:11 am.

Where did flight 96 crash? ›

Windsor, Ontario

Where did flight 571 crash? ›

Argentina

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