Wing commander: Much of crash still under investigation

Cannon Air Force Base is focused on "taking care of our loved ones, friends and our larger Air Commando family," its commander said Wednesday morning.

Col. Ben Maitre hosted a 10-minute press conference at the base following Tuesday evening's crash of a U-28 Cannon aircraft that killed all three Cannon personnel on board.

Maitre stressed that many aspects of the crash, including the scene southeast of Clovis Municipal Airport, were still being investigated.

He said the plane crashed on a training exercise at approximately 6:50 p.m. Tuesday, and that local first responders and civic authorities put out a small fire that resulted.

He said names of the victims will not be released until 24 hours after next of kin notifications have been made.

"Our priority in the wing's training and operational mission here at Cannon Air Force Base is on safe mission accomplishment," Maitre said.

"The investigation is intended to find out what happened to preclude future reoccurrence."

The colonel said the area around the municipal airport, identified by pilots as CVN, was a routine part of training.

"(O)ur air crews would take the aircraft for several hours, operate here and in eastern New Mexico or west Texas. That can involve anything from tactical scenarios to pilot proficiency training, which is in or around airports just to safely fly and conduct takeoff, landing and operations with the aircraft," he said.

In immediate response to the crash, Maitre said, all flying operations were ceased at the base. They resumed again Wednesday with the exception of the 318th Special Operations Squadron, which operates the U-28 on base.

The 318th was activated May 2008 as the second operational flying squadron during Cannon's transition into an Air Force Special Operations Command base. The 318th was first activated in 1944, but was inactive from June 1974 to its activation at Cannon, its 12th installation.

Maitre warned that the crash site was still an investigative scene and asked anybody wanting to find out more about the accident or express support to go through the base's public affairs office.

Carlos Arias, a civilian pilot, said he was at the airport throughout the day Tuesday and saw the training exercise.

"They'd been flying around for the afternoon," Arias said. "I don't know if they swapped crews or not, but they'll train for several hours. I've watched them do it dozens of times."

The plane was still partially intact at the crash scene on Wednesday.

"I appreciate ... the outpouring of support we've gotten from off base to our community on base," Maitre said.

"We at Cannon Air Force Base are a tight-knit installation and wing, focused on getting the mission done. Obviously ... any time an incident like this occurs, it hits us hard. Again, right now, our focus is on those families to make sure they get the care team support from our chaplains, our health teams, providers and most importantly, our family unto itself, to make sure we respond to this incident and they can move forward from it."