Navy: Pilot rescued after jet crashes in ocean off Virginia

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va.

A Navy fighter jet crashed Wednesday in Atlantic waters off Virginia, and the lone pilot was in critical condition after he ejected and was rescued, the Navy said.

The crash comes a week after a Navy helicopter plunged into the ocean in the region, leaving three dead. Both aircraft were on routine training missions.

Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Atlantic, said the single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed at 2:35 p.m. about 45 miles off Virginia Beach.

The pilot ejected and a life raft deployed, according to a Navy statement. The pilot initially was recovered by a fishing vessel and then picked up by a Navy MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter and flown to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The hospital is the area’s only Level I Trauma Center.