A Navy pilot ejected from a crashing fighter jet off the coast of Virginia Wednesday, with rescuers taking him to a hospital.
The Strike Fighter Squadron 83 pilot, unnamed by the Navy, was out on a routine training flight when he ejected from his F/A-18E Super Hornet plane at around 9:53 a.m., Naval Air Force Atlantic said in a release. The squadron is based out of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.
Search and rescue personnel went out on the water and recovered the pilot at 11:21 a.m. before taking him for a medical evaluation.
The jet is still in the water, Naval Air Force Atlantic said, and the circumstances of the aviation mishap and the pilot’s ejection are under investigation.
The incident is the sixth time the Navy has lost an F-18 jet in the past 10 months, according to CBS News.
As of fiscal 2021, each F/A-18E Super Hornet cost $67 million, according to the Navy’s website.
