The pilot of a military training jet was rescued by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday evening after the aircraft plunged into the Pacific Ocean about six miles northwest of Morro Bay.
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I have lost thrust in my engine,” the pilot of the single-seat Mk.58 Hawker Hunter fighter jet communicated to an air traffic controller, according to an audio broadcast from @liveatc. The air traffic controller tried to direct the pilot to the nearest airport — Paso Robles, about 60 miles away.
At about 7 p.m., U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach was notified of a downed aircraft in the Pacific six miles northwest of Morro Bay with one person aboard, according to Coast Guard Southwest District spokesperson Kenneth Wiese.
Manuel J. Delarosa, a public affairs specialist for Navy Region Southwest, said that a search and rescue crew based out of Naval Aviation Station Lemoore rescued the pilot and took him to a trauma facility.
The pilot’s condition is unknown, but he may have ejected from the aircraft before it crashed. The Hawker Hunter, a British-designed Cold War-era fighter jet, is equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat that allows the pilot to blast out of the cockpit in an emergency.
The aircraft that crashed Tuesday was operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, a private government contractor that helps train crews with the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Its motto is “Training Today’s Warriors for Tomorrow’s Challenges.”
According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft, which went by call sign SNAKE4, was conducting exercises off the coast of Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County.
ATAC states on its website that it deploys the Hawker Hunter in a variety of roles: “The aircraft’s steady performance allows ATAC to use it as a transonic fighter in the air-to-air role, as a stable, precise platform in the air-to-surface role, and the aircraft is a versatile opponent in all fleet integrated training exercises.”
ATAC did not immediately respond to requests for information on the pilot’s condition or details of the crash.
This is not the first time a Hawker Hunter operated by ATAC suffered a loss of engine power off the California coast.
Last October, another Hawker Hunter went down in the Big Sur area, prompting a rescue of the pilot. A report by the National Transportation Safety Board found the reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined. The pilot said that he and another aircraft were providing adversary and tactical training for U.S. military aircrews, according to the report. While en route to the training area, the pilot reduced the engine power when he learned the fighter element was running about 10 minutes late. Not long after, the airplane experienced a complete loss of engine power.
The pilot attempted to restart the engine multiple times, with no success. He then decided to eject. The airplane was not recovered from the ocean.
In 2022, another Hawker Hunter operated by ATAC experienced a partial loss of engine power and crashed in the Atlantic about 40 miles southeast of Wilmington, N.C. After two unsuccessful attempts to restore engine power, the NTSB report said, the pilot ejected at 3,000 feet above sea level and was seriously injured. After the wreckage was recovered from the ocean, the report said, an examination revealed that a bearing failed in the high-pressure fuel pump.
After Tuesday’s crash, Weise said, Coast Guard crews searched the area for any wreckage, but did not find any pieces of the downed aircraft.
“It was already really dark at that point,” Weise said. “They ended up returning to base sometime after the person had already been rescued.”
Weise said the jet would likely have had about 400 to 1,000 gallons of fuel on board, so crews would investigate if there are any navigational hazards or signs of pollution. He urged all mariners “to navigate the area with caution and report any debris or pollution” in the area to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach.
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