George Whitesides
06/24/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/24/2026 08:42
WATCH: Rep. Whitesides Leads Moment of Silence for Victims of Edwards Air Force Base Crash
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita) led the House of Representatives in a moment of silence with Rep. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) to pay tribute to the eight men who lost their lives in a tragic crash at Edwards Air Force Base on June 15th.
The eight individuals who lost their lives in the crash were:
- Col. Gregory Watson, 53, weapon systems officer, Boeing (Air Force reservist, assigned 10th Air Force, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas), Shreveport, LA.
- Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40, weapon systems officer, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Detachment 5, Edwards Air Force Base.
- Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50, pilot, Boeing, Tehachapi, CA.
- Maj. Alexander Davis, 34, weapon systems officer, 419th Flight Test Squadron, Lancaster, CA.
- Maj. Robert Dee, 40, pilot, 419th Flight Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base.
- Maj. Brad Hovey, 35, pilot, 419th Flight Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base.
- Jeromy Smith, 32, flight test engineer, 419th Flight Test Squadron, Rosamond, CA.
- Christopher Rischar, 41, flight test engineer, JT4 contractor, Lancaster, CA.
View the full clip of Rep. Whitesides' speech here.
George Whitesides published this content on June 24, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 24, 2026 at 14:42 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]