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Marine captain identified as pilot killed in TopGun crash

A U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet fighter, the same model aircraft as one that recently crashed in Nevada, takes off on a strike mission from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea in this file photo.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet fighter, the same model aircraft as one that recently crashed in Nevada, takes off on a strike mission from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea in this file photo.
(Dave Martin / Associated Press)
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The pilot killed in the crash of an F/A-18C Hornet in northern Nevada was identified Saturday as Marine Capt. Reid Nannen.

Nannen, 32, of Hopedale, Ill., was killed March 1 when the plane crashed 70 miles east of the Naval Air Station at Fallon, Nev. He was a student at the TopGun school there.

Nannen’s permanent assignment was at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, and he had twice deployed to Afghanistan during his 10-year career.

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The cause of the crash is under investigation.

“Capt. Nannen was a fighter pilot through and through,” said Col. Hunter Hobson, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 12. “He embodied all the qualities of the heroic aviators of old and was the leader of the current generation.”

Nannen is survived by his wife, Sarah, and their four children.

Twitter: @LATsandiego

tony.perry@latimes.com

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