Two Navy F/A-18 fighter jets collided in mid-air about 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina at about 10:30 a.m. this morning (May 26th).
The jets had been on a routine training mission out of Oceana Naval Air Station when the accident occurred, according to information reported in the Virginian Pilot. The base is located in Virginia Beach and is home to a wide range of Naval aircraft, both manned and unmanned.
There were four crew members involved in this morning’s collision, a pilot and a weapons system expert on each of the Super Hornet Jets. All four of the men were rescued by a passing fishing vessel. They were taken by Coast Guard Helicopter to the only level one trauma unit in the area. They are now being treated at Sentara General Hospital.
Patients from Strike Fighter Squadron 211 at Oceana Naval Air Station rescued by fisherman at Norfolk hospital https://t.co/gLDHrS85ZK
— Stacy Parker (@stacypparker) May 26, 2016
The cause of the collision is not known, but the Navy is investigating.
The extent of the men’s injuries is said to be minor, and all four are reported to be in good spirits.
This is the second accident involving F/A-18 fighter jets this month. On May 12th one of the Super Hornets crashed in the Persian Gulf, where it had been deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Although the unit had been engaged in operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the accident was not related to enemy activity. Both of the men on board that F/A-18 ejected before the crash and both survived.
At the time of today’s mid-air collision, the commodore of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic, Captain Randy Stearns, was testifying in Washington about the readiness of the Navy’s Hornet and Super Hornet jets. He testified about shortages in parts and backlogs in maintenance that have impacted the number of training missions that pilots can fly between deployments.
It’s not known whether or not those issues played a part in today’s accident.
Watch this video to learn what it feels like to fly in one of these amazing aircraft.
Featured image via Wikipedia.
