F/A-18E crashes, pilot ejects during training flight

Super Hornet
F/A-18E crash FILE PHOTO: An F/A-18E Super Hornet performs a fly-over. A plane similar to the one pictured crashed off the Virginia coast during a training mission. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zoe Simpson) (Seaman Apprentice Zoe Simpson/USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72))

A Navy pilot ejected from an F/A-18E during a routine training flight.

The pilot, who has not been identified, was attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, WAVY reported.

Military officials have not said what caused the crash, which happened Wednesday morning and is under investigation. It is also not known why the pilot ejected, CBS News reported.

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the pilot from the water, who was later taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated, WVEC and WAVY reported.

There is no word on the pilot’s condition.

This is the sixth F-18 incident in the last 10 months, according to CBS News.

Two pilots were killed in October 2024 when an EA-18G Growler, a Super Hornet variant, crashed near Mount Rainier in Washington.

Another plane was shot down by friendly fire in the Red Sea in December.

A Growler also crashed in San Diego Bay in February.

A Super Hornet fell off the USS Harry S. Truman in April as the plane was being towed to a hangar bay.

Another Super Hornet went into the water as it tried to land on the Truman’s flight deck when a mechanism on the ship failed.

Each Super Hornet costs about $67 million to produce, according to the Navy.

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