Two Air Force pilots safely ejected from a T-6A Texan II training aircraft near Seguin on Thursday evening after a hard landing triggered a warning that the plane's landing gear was unsafe. The pilots, assigned to the 12th Flying Training Wing, executed a controlled bailout at approximately 5:51 p.m. local time at an uncontrolled airfield, and both were recovered safely.
According to Fox San Antonio, the flight crew received indications that the landing gear was unsafe after the initial landing, prompting them to consult aviation experts before deciding on next steps. Those experts recommended a controlled bailout rather than attempting another landing, the outlet reported. Both pilots were evaluated by local medical personnel afterward, though their identities and conditions have not been released.
Sheriff's Office Responds, No Threat to Public
The Wilson County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene near Nockenut Road and Lynn Drive, and officials said there was no threat to the public, per KSAT. The cause of the mechanical indication that led to the ejection remains under investigation, the same report notes. The T-6A Texan II is the training aircraft used at Randolph Air Force Base, where the 12th Flying Training Wing is based.
The Air & Space Forces Magazine describes the T-6 Texan II as a joint Air Force/Navy undergraduate pilot-training aircraft, one in which both the student and instructor can operate the plane independently from either seat — a design meant to let either occupant take control in exactly this kind of emergency.
A Pattern of Gear Trouble in Recent Months
Thursday's incident is not the first time a T-6 assigned to the region has run into landing gear trouble this year. In February, a T-6A Texan II trainer from the 47th Flying Training Wing executed a nose-gear-up landing at Laughlin Air Force Base, and the two pilots aboard exited the aircraft safely, according to News 4 San Antonio, with that incident remaining under investigation.
In April, another Air Force T-6 made an emergency gear-up landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph after its pilot declared an in-flight emergency, and no one was injured, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. A spokesman for the 12th Flying Training Wing told the outlet that after the T-6 experienced a gear malfunction, the instructor pilot executed a gear-up landing in accordance with emergency checklists, adding that the aircrew was unharmed as a result.
Older incidents point to a longer history of close calls involving the trainer aircraft around San Antonio. A T-6 crashed near Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in September 2018, with the two crew members aboard ejecting and surviving, according to The Aviationist. A separate T-6 from Sheppard Air Force Base crashed during a routine instructor-training mission in May 2019, with both crew members ejecting and sustaining minor injuries, per the same Air & Space Forces Magazine account cited above.
As of Thursday night, the Air Force had not released further details on what triggered the unsafe gear indication near Seguin, and the investigation into the mechanical cause remains ongoing.
