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Air Force instructor pilot dies after ejection seat activates during ground operations
An Air Force instructor pilot died Tuesday morning from injuries sustained after an ejection seat activated during ground operations Monday afternoon.
The pilot was with the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. The Air Force is withholding the pilot’s name until family members have been notified.
According to the base, the incident occurred around 1:55 p.m. on Monday, when the ejection seat of the trainer aircraft, a T-6A Texan II, activated during ground operations.
The pilot was transported to United Regional Hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas, before succumbing to injuries sustained during the accident.
The Air Force is conducting an investigation into the incident.
According to the Air Force, this aircraft is a single-engine, two-seat trainer designed to train students in basic flying skills required of Air Force and Navy pilots.
The 80th Training Flying Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base leads the multinational Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Program that trains combat pilots for NATO.
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Legendary TV icon Betty White will be honored in 2025 with a stamp, the U.S. Postal Service announced on Friday.
The “Golden Girls” and “Mary Tyler Moore Show” actor “shared her wit and warmth with viewers for seven decades,” the news release from the USPS read.
U.S. Postal Service
“The comedic actor, who gained younger generations of fans as she entered her 90s, was also revered as a compassionate advocate for animals,” the USPS said.
The image of White, who died in 2021, was created based on a 2010 photograph, the USPS said. The USPS said the list of new stamps released on Friday is a partial one, with additional stamps to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
“This early glimpse into our 2025 stamp program demonstrates our commitment to providing a diverse range of subjects and designs for both philatelists and stamp enthusiasts,” said Lisa Bobb-Semple, stamp services director for USPS.
White launched her TV career in daytime talk shows when the medium was still in its infancy and endured well into the age of cable and streaming. Her combination of sweetness and edginess gave life to a roster of quirky characters in shows from the sitcom “Life With Elizabeth” in the early 1950s to oddball Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls” in the ’80s to “Boston Legal,” which ran from 2004 to 2008.
White died in December 2021. She was 99 and just a few weeks shy of what would have been her 100th birthday on Jan. 17.
When asked how she had managed to be universally beloved during her long career, White summed it up with a dimpled smile: “I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.”
The USPS said it will also honor pianist and composer Allen Toussaint, who died in 2015 at the age of 77.
