OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Thursday, Nov. 7, Washington state and United States flags will be lowered to half-staff at state agencies in memory of the two Navy service members killed when an electronic warfare aircraft crashed in October.
Gov. Jay Inslee directed the flags be at half-staff until close of business or sunset.
Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay Payge Evans, 31, a naval flight officer, and Lt. Serena Nicole Wileman, 31, a naval aviator were killed on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The EA-18G Growler they were flying crashed east of Mount Rainier. The plane took off from Oak Harbor, and the crash was reported at 3:23 p.m., according to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island officials.
Evans and Wileman were both assigned to the Electronic Attack Squadron 130.
Evans was commissioned in 2014 and has been stationed on Whidbey Island since 2016. Evans was most recently assigned to the electronic attack squadron in September 2023. She has also served for several years in the electronic communications weapons school and the Electronic Attack Squadron 136 at NAS Whidbey.
Wileman was commissioned in 2018 and has been stationed at Whidbey Island since 2021. Wileman was assigned to the electronic attack squadron in 2022. She was previously in a student role at several bases across the country.
The bodies of the two service members were both expected to return to Washington from Dover Air Force Base this week.
Wileman arrived in Oak Harbor on Monday, Nov. 4. Evans was also expected to return this week, though her arrival was made private.
