27 US service members have been killed in noncombat air crashes this year

Wednesday’s crash of an Air National Guard cargo plane in Georgia killed nine service members, bringing the number of US service members who’ve died in noncombat-related wrecks of military aircraft to at least 27 this year.

Last month, the spate of military aircraft crashes prompted House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, to say the “readiness of the military is at a crisis point.”

Seven noncombat air crashes have resulted in deaths this year. They are:

— January 20: An AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during training at California’s Fort Irwin, killing two soldiers.

— March 14: A Navy F/A-18 fighter jet crashed during a training flight off Key West, Florida, killing two naval aviators.

— March 15: An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in western Iraq, killing seven US airmen.

— April 3: A Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a training mission near California’s Naval Air Facility El Centro, killing four crew members.

— April 4: An Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 jet crashed during a training flight at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base, killing the pilot.

— April 6: An Army AH-64E Apache helicopter crashed during training at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell, killing two soldiers.

— May 2: A Puerto Rico Air National Guard WC-130 cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff near Savannah, Georgia, killing all nine people on board.