Military identifies naval pilot who died in Nevada crash

FALLON -- Military authorities were still investigating the crash of a single-seat fighter that killed a 34-year-old naval reservist from New York City last week.

Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Domino died after his F-5E Tiger II jet went down in bad weather during a training flight Friday morning about 10 miles south of Fallon. Authorities said Domino did not eject from the jet that was flying out of Fallon Naval Air Station in northern Nevada.

Lt. Alex Domino, a surface warfare officer who is stationed at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach, Va., said Monday that his brother had gone to Fallon for a 10-day training cycle with the "Fighting Saints," a Navy Reserve squadron.

"The cause of the accident is under investigation and that usually takes some time," Alex Domino said. "Then we'll know if it was caused by a mechanical problem or the weather or pilot error."

Alex Domino said his brother died doing what he loved.

"He was at his happiest when he was flying," he said. "There was no other substitute. If he was up in the cockpit in his jet, he wasn't having a bad day."

Alex Domino said his brother's death had shaken the family.

"We're taking it as well as can be expected," he said. "Our mother and father obviously are taking it very hard. Me and my other two brothers are sticking together, doing our best. Like all other tragedies, it takes time."

Lt. Chad Mingo, a spokesman at the Fallon base, said Anthony Domino was a 1991 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who flew F-14 Tomcats while stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. He was born in Middletown, Del.

Anthony Domino completed two deployments to Bosnia and Iraq before leaving active service in October 2001 and becoming a pilot for JetBlue Airlines. He wasn't married.

The F-5E jet that Domino was flying was part of the adversary squadron used to train the Navy's Fighter Weapons School aviators. Because of its similarities to the Russian MiG-21, the plane is used as an "aggressor" aircraft in training.

Fallon Naval Air Station, about 60 miles east of Reno, is a training base that is home to the Top Gun Navy Fighter Weapons school.