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4 Air Force airmen killed in Africa crash

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 6:45 PM Monday, February 20, 2012

The Department of Defense on Monday identified four airmen killed when their U-28 spy plane crashed on Saturday in the eastern African country of Djibouti.

The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane flies in support of special forces operations.

“Initial indications are it wasn’t shot down,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Whitney of the public affairs office at Hurlburt Field, Fla., headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command.

Whitney said he had no details about the crew’s specific assignment or the circumstances at the time of the single-engine plane’s crash. The Air Force is investigating to determine the cause.

The Defense Department said the crew was flying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the government’s name for the war in Afghanistan and related military operations. The U.S. military maintains operations in the troubled east Africa region.

Those killed were Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Ga.; 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Ore., and Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md. All were assigned to Hurlburt Field.

The crash occurred at about 8 p.m. local time Saturday, six miles from the Djibouti International Airport, U.S. military officials said. They described it as a routine flight.

On Dec. 13, an Air Force unmanned aircraft — an MQ-9 Reaper — crashed at an international airport in the Republic of Seychelles, an island nation off the east coast of Africa. The Reaper was unarmed and no injuries were reported.

The Reaper program is managed by the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Air Force said it was investigating the cause of that crash.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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