Two US Navy F/A-18 jets crash, four injured
Two US Navy F/A-18 fighter jets have crashed after an “in-air mishap” during a routine training mission, American military officials say.
The incident took place on Thursday morning, when the two Super Hornets went down off the coast of North Carolina, according to the US Coast Guard.
The fighters were based in Virginia Beach and collided about 10:40 am, US Navy spokesman Ensign Mark Rockwellpate said.
Four aviators were injured during the incident and were all taken to a hospital by a fishing boat, the Coast Guard said, adding that a helicopter was dispatched to the scene from the air station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Witnesses spotted four parachutes floating down into the Atlantic after the incident.
Initial investigations regarding the reasons pointed to an "in-flight mishap," a Navy official told Reuters
Navy spokesman Ensign Mark Rockwellpate said the two aircraft collided before going down but that report was not confirmed by the Navy.
To determine the cause of the accident, Rockwellpate said a safety investigation will be carried out.
The sea route, where the crash happened, was heavily traveled by ships entering and leaving Norfolk, one of the busiest cargo ports on the East Coast.
An upgraded version of the F-18 Hornet, the F/A-18 Super Hornet is an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft that the Navy says can operate from 10 aircraft carriers.
Longer range, aerial refueling capability and improved survivability and lethality are the Super Hornet’s main advantages over the older version.
Each of the planes costs at least $57 million and is considered "the most cost-effective aircraft" in the US aviation fleet, costing less per flight hour than any other in the US forces inventory, the Navy says.
Navy officials did not provide details on the extent of the damage the planes sustained.
In October 2015, another F/A-18 crashed in the UK near the RAF Lakenheath airbase in Suffolk, shortly after it took off, killing its pilot.
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