Air Force releases name of flight instructor killed in Alabama plane crash The Associated Press February 21 A pair of T-38 Talon aircrafts prepare to take off July 15, 2020, on Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. (Senior Airman Jake Jacobsen/Air Force) MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Air Force said Sunday that a flying instructor and a student pilot from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force were killed when a trainer jet crashed in Alabama. The Air Force released the name of the instructor who died when the T-38C Talon trainer aircraft crashed Friday near Montgomery, Alabama. He was identified as Scot Ames Jr., a 24-year-old instructor pilot with the 50th Flying Training Squadron at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. He was from Pekin, Indiana.