Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot
WESTFIELD – The Massachusetts Air National Guard has identified the pilot killed in a crash Wednesday morning as Lt. Col. Morris “Moose” Fontenot Jr., 41, of Longmeadow. He was a highly decorated combat veteran.
Col. James Keefe, 104th Fighter Wing Commander, said in a press release late Friday morning that the family has asked that the unit “share with the public the name of the pilot who was fatally injured Wednesday” in the crash which occurred in the rugged mountainous terrain of the Washington National Forest near Deerfield Valley, Virginia.
“On behalf of the family of our fallen pilot and with a sense of profound sadness, I am sad to share that Lt. Col. Morris “Moose” Fontenot Jr., was killed tragically in Wednesday’s F-15 crash,” said Keefe. “We all continue to keep the Fontenot family in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.”
Keefe said Thursday night that crash investigators were hampered by the terrain and the fact that fires were still burning at the crash site.
Fontenot was flying the single-seat plane to New Orleans for a radar system upgrade when he crashed Wednesday in western Virginia. Officials say he reported an in-flight emergency before losing radio contact.
“On-scene crash investigators notified (the 104th) at 1700 Hours (5 p.m.) that the pilot was deceased, that the pilot did not survive the incident,” Keefe said at a press briefing held outside the gate of the base at Barnes Regional Airport at 10 p.m. Thursday.
“Investigators were able to enter the crash site (Thursday) afternoon,” Keefe said. “The pilot did not safely eject from the aircraft. The pilot had died as the result of the crash.”
The pilot had declared an in-flight emergency just before 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. The F-15C Eagle crashed at approximately 9:05 a.m. Radio contact with the pilot was lost about 5 minutes earlier.
The Washington Center Air Traffic Control in Washington, D.C. lost radio contact with the F-15C aircraft stationed at the 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts at approximately 9:05 a.m. Wednesday and at 9:30 a.m. the 104th Fighter Wing learned that the aircraft had crashed in a remote site near Deerfield Valley, Va.
Fontenot served with the 104th Fighter Wing as the full-time Wing Inspector General, responsible for the implementation of the Air Force Inspection System and as an F-15 instructor pilot with more than 2,300 flight hours.
A 1996 Air Force Academy Graduate, Fontenot was additionally a Weapons School Graduate with more than 17 years of F-15 flying experience. He served as a squadron commander at multiple locations. Following Active Duty assignments in Washington D.C., Japan, Idaho, Florida, Alaska and numerous deployments to the Middle East, Lt. Col. Fontenot joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard in February 2014.
Fontenot was a decorated combat veteran, earning the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, and Combat Readiness Medal among others.
Keefe said the investigation into the crash is ongoing and that it may take several weeks to recover the wreckage of the aircraft and begin to determine the cause of the crash. The site is between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea level.
“The site is very remote, very scheduled and heavily wooded,” Keefe said. “It could take three weeks or longer to determine the reason for the crash and why the pilot was unable to eject. Investigators are looking to the flight data recorder.”
The pilot was operating the aircraft at high elevation, around 40,000 feet, to conserve fuel when the pilot declared an in-flight emergency and contact was lost.
Dignified transfer and memorial announcements will be made through official channels once releasable.
