text: An Air Force pilot died when his plane crashed during a training mission Tuesday northwest of Nellis Air Force Base. Information on the type of aircraft involved is classified and not available for release, a Nellis spokeswoman said. 
   
   Pronghorn antelope run across a dry lakebed at the Nevada Test and Training Range on Sunday, May 21, 2017. Patrick Connolly Las Vegas Review-Journal @PConnPie 
   
   An Air Force pilot died when his plane crashed during a training mission Tuesday northwest of Nellis Air Force Base, officials confirmed Friday. 
   
   Specific information on the aircraft involved in the crash is classified and not available for release, said Maj. Christina Sukach, a Nellis spokeswoman. 
   
   The base announced that an Air Force aircraft crashed about 6 p.m. Tuesday during a training mission on the Nevada Test and Training Range, about 100 miles northwest of Nellis. The crash was the first in two consecutive days of training-related crashes at the Nellis range. On Wednesday, two fighter jets crashed during a routine training mission, the base announced. 
   
   Base spokesman Tech. Sgt. Siuta Ika said Lt. Col. Eric Schultz was piloting the aircraft when it crashed. Ika said it was unknown whether other people were on board at the time of the crash. 
   
   It was unclear whether Schultz died at the crash site, Sukach said. She said he was supporting training at the site. 
   
   The base announced the aircraft was part of the Air Force Materiel Command, which develops and tests weapons. 
   
   On Wednesday, two pilots ejected safely from A-10C Thunderbolt II jets about 8 p.m. and were evaluated by medical staff on base. They were later released with survivable injuries, spokeswoman Lt. Marie Ortiz later said. 
   
   Ortiz said the fighter jets were each worth $18.8 million. 
   
   Both crashes and their causes are under investigation. When asked why the information release from Wednesday’s crash came before information from Tuesday’s fatal crash, Ika said efforts after the deadly incident focused on search and recovery as well as next-of-kin notification. 
   
   It was unclear why the pilots in the fighter jet crash flew the day after Tuesday’s fatal crash. 
   
   The Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Maryland, reported Schultz graduated from Annapolis High School in 1991. His mother and father traveled to Nevada on Wednesday to join his wife and other family members, the newspaper reported. 
   
   The newspaper said Schultz was a former civilian test pilot who held multiple graduate degrees. He joined the Air Force in 2001, according to the Capital Gazette, and became a flight training officer. He joined rarefied air when he qualified to fly the F-35 fighter jet in 2011, the newspaper reported. 
   
   Attempts to reach his family Friday afternoon were unsuccessful. 
   
   Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter. ||||| A pilot was killed in another plane crash this week at the Nevada Test and Training Range, the Air Force said. 
   
   Lt. Col. Eric Schultz, 44, died from injuries sustained in an accident in which an aircraft crashed around 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday at the range, located about 100 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base, according to a release from the base issued Friday evening. 
   
   The aircraft, the type of which wasn't specified, was assigned to Air Force Materiel Command and was flying a training mission at the time of the mishap, the release states. 
   
   "Information about the type of aircraft involved is classified and not releasable," Maj. Christina Sukach, chief of public affairs for the 99 Air Base Wing at Nellis, said in an email. 
   
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   Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein, while traveling Saturday morning to the annual conference of the National Guard Association of the United States in Louisville, Ky., ruled out speculation the aircraft involved may have been an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. 
   
   "I can definitely say it was not an F-35," he told a Military.com reporter accompanying him on the trip. 
   
   In an article on the website of The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, Schultz was identified as a 1991 graduate of Annapolis High School and a former civilian test pilot who received multiple graduate degrees before joining the Air Force in 2001. 
   
   A YouCaring page to establish a memorial fund for Schultz's family states he received six degrees, including a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a master's of business administration from Penn State University. 
   
   Schultz was a U.S. Air Force combat veteran and test pilot with over 2,000 hours flying numerous aircraft, including the F-35 and CF-18, Canada's variant of the F/A-18 Hornet, and the F-15E, in which he flew more than 50 close air support missions in Afghanistan, according to the page. 
   
   He also held management positions, serving as director of operations and exchange officer at the Canadian Forces Flight Test Center, and performed systems engineering for the Airborne Laser program, the page states. 
   
   Prior to joining the military, Schultz was the senior scientist and business development manger at the Pratt & Whitney Seattle Aerosciences Center, and a rotary wing flight test engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center, it states. 
   
   He's survived by a wife, Julie, and five children, Noah, Elijah, Zion, OliviaMae, and Naomi; parents Larry and Linda Schultz of Annapolis; brother Lars (his children Ava and Tristan) of Alexandria, Virginia; and aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews, according to the YouCaring page. 
   
   Schultz in 2011 was also named the 28th pilot to fly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a stealthy fifth-generation fighter jet made by Lockheed Martin Corp., according to information released by the Air Force and the manufacturer. 
   
   The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons acquisition program, estimated to cost more than $400 billion to develop and buy more than 2,400 of the single-engine fighters. 
   
   While the program has encountered cost overruns, schedule delays and mishaps in decades of development, including engine fires -- one in 2016 resulted in burns to a pilot's head, neck and face -- the airframe hasn't yet experienced a fatal accident. 
   
   The deadly crash occurred a day before a pair of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft crashed at the same training range. Both pilots safely ejected in that incident, according to a separate release from Nellis issued Thursday. 
   
   The A-10C jets, known as Warthogs, from the 57th Wing at Nellis were also on a routine training mission when they went down around 8 p.m. The service didn't say whether the planes collided. 
   
   It wasn't immediately clear why Friday's release came three days after an accident involving a fatality. 
   
   Both mishaps are under investigation. 
   
   "These are separate incidents and both are currently under investigation to determine their causes," Sukach said in a separate email. 
   
   -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. 
   
   -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. ||||| USAF pilot and Annapolis native Lt Col Eric E. Schultz, age 44, tragically lost his life on Tuesday 05 September 2017 in the line of duty. Eric passed from this world doing what he loved most, leaving behind a treasured legacy of faithful service, devotion and loving kindness to his family, friends, brothers-in-arms, and country. 
   
   
   
   
   
   The sudden and heartbreaking loss of Eric is a tremendous blow to his family and friends. We are all deeply saddened by this loss. Any donation you can provide to his family during this difficult time would be greatly appreciated. On behalf of Eric's family, we thank you for your care and support as his family deals with the tragic impact of losing a loving husband and proud father of five children. He will be sorely missed. 
   
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   Eric was a combat veteran US Air Force Test Pilot with over 2000 hours flying numerous aircraft. During the past 24 years, his career spanned fighter combat and flight test operations, business management, and research and development applied to aerospace, energy and safety. His military experiences included: over 210 missions flight testing the F-35 and CF-18; Director of Operations and Exchange Officer at the Canadian Forces Flight Test Center; fighter pilot flying the F-15E with over 50 close air support combat missions in Afghanistan; and systems engineering for the Airborne Laser program. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Prior to joining the military, he was the senior scientist and business development manger at the Pratt & Whitney Seattle Aerosciences Center, and a rotary wing flight test engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center. He achieved six degrees including a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from California Institute of Technology and a Masters of Business Administration from Penn State University. Eric was a graduate of Annapolis Senior High School, class of 1991 and was inducted into the high school Wall of Fame. 
   
   
   
   Eric is survived by his devoted wife Julie, his five wonderful children: Noah, Elijah, Zion, OliviaMae, and Naomi; his loving parents Larry and Linda Schultz of Annapolis; and his brother Lars (his children Ava and Tristan) of Alexandria, Virginia; and many more aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. ||||| An Air Force pilot from Annapolis died Wednesday when his plane crashed during a training flight in Nevada. 
   
   Lt. Col. Eric Schultz was flying an unspecified aircraft at about 6 p.m. over the Nevada Test and Training Range, approximately 100 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base, a spokeswoman at the air base said Friday. 
   
   The aircraft was assigned to Air Force Materiel Command, which leads development of new combat technologies for the service. 
   
   Maj. Christina Sukach, a spokeswoman for the 99th Air Base Wing, said Schultz died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. The crash remains under investigation, and additional details were not immediately available. 
   
   “Our immediate concern is for the family of Lt. Col. Schultz,” she wrote in an email. 
   
   Schultz is a 1991 Annapolis High School graduate, and the son of Linda and Larry Schultz, of Annapolis. They traveled to Nevada on Wednesday to be with their son’s wife and other members of the family. 
   
   A former civilian test pilot, Eric Schultz held multiple graduate degrees when he joined the Air Force in 2001. He went on to be an experienced flight training officer who was the 29th pilot to qualify to fly the F-35 fighter jet in 2011. 
   
   His crash was one of two Air Force crashes near Nellis on Wednesday. Twos A-10C Thunderbolt II jets assigned to the 57th Wing crashed on the test range at approximately 8 p.m. 
   
   An Air Force spokeswoman at Nellis said the pilots ejected safely. The aircraft were on a routine training mission at the time of the crash. ||||| LAS VEGAS (AP) — A U.S. Air Force pilot has died of injuries suffered in an aircraft crash at a training range about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, base officials said. 
   
   A brief statement released Friday by Nellis officials said the crash that killed Lt. Col. Eric Schultz occurred during a training flight Tuesday evening at the Nevada Test and Training Range. 
   
   The statement didn't provide a hometown or age for Schultz or details on the crash, but it said the aircraft was assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command. 
   
   The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, reported (https://goo.gl/61qnq9) that Schultz was a 1991 graduate of Annapolis (Maryland) high school and his parents, Linda and Larry Schultz, live in Annapolis. 
   
   The Materiel Command's website says it conducts researches and tests weapons systems. 
   
   The Las Vegas Review Journal (https://goo.gl/nxWRmh ) reported that a 99th Air Base Wing spokeswoman, Maj. Christina Sukach, said the type of aircraft is classified.
target: – A US Air Force pilot has died of injuries suffered in an aircraft crash at a training range about 100 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada, base officials say. A brief statement released Friday by Nellis officials said the crash that killed Lt. Col. Eric Schultz occurred during a training flight Tuesday evening at the Nevada Test and Training Range, the AP reports. The statement didn't provide a hometown or age for Schultz (Military.com lists his age as 44) or details on the crash, but it said the aircraft was assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command. The Materiel Command's website says it conducts researches and tests weapons systems. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the type of aircraft is classified, per a 99th Air Base Wing spokeswoman. The crash, which happened around 6pm Tuesday, was the first of two consecutive-day crashes: Two fighter jets crashed on Wednesday, the base announced. The two pilots in that incident reportedly ejected from their aircraft and were released after being examined by medical staff. The Capital Gazette reports Schultz was a 1991 graduate of Annapolis High School in Maryland and that his parents, Linda and Larry Schultz, live in Annapolis. Schultz joined the Air Force in 2001 with multiple college degrees under his belt—a YouCaring page set up to help his family says there were six, including a PhD in aerospace engineering. His parents reportedly traveled to Nevada on Wednesday to be with his wife, Julie, and other family members. Schultz is also survived by five children.