A training version of the U-2 reconnaisance plane from Beale Air Force Base crashed in the Sutter Buttes Tuesday morning, killing one of the two pilots, with the other pilot transported to the hospital, where an exact condition is not available. Sutter County Undersheriff Jeff Pierce was among those on the scene…

click to listen to Undersheriff Pierce

Pierce says the pilots landed over a hill north of the road…

click to listen to Undersheriff Pierce

The investigation by the Air Force is just getting underway. The crash also sparked a grass fire west of where the plane came down, that was put out a short while later. The amount of acreage burned isn’t known. About 20 years ago, in 1996, a U-2 crashed in the parking lot of the Oroville Mercury-Register newspaper, killing the solo pilot, as well as a civilian on the ground.