Teri Figueroa | The San Diego Union-Tribune
A Marine pilot was killed when a F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet crashed late Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar base, military officials said.
The jet crashed just before 11:55 p.m. Thursday on government property east of the air station. The downed plane was part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing with the Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA (AW)) 224, officials with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing announced Friday morning.
“Search and rescue recovered the U.S. Marine Corps pilot who has been confirmed deceased at the site,”1st Lt. Hudson Sadler said in a news release. Sadler is the spokesperson for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, based out of Cherry Point, North Carolina.
The squadron is a subordinate unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina.
The pilot was the only person on the plane.
News that the pilot was found dead comes after local agencies helped search for the missing aviator.
About 2:30 a.m. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department crews responded to the crash site, east of Interstate 15, sending two brush engines. The agency also sent a helicopter to help during the early morning search. The San Diego fire crews left the search scene by 6 a.m.
U.S. Coast Guard also sent a helicopter to assist with the search about 3 a.m., but low visibility led authorities to pull the helicopter back.
Sadler said the plane was taking part in routine training when it went down.
In recent years, there have been at least two fatal training-related crashes in San Diego and Imperial counties.
In May, two Learjet aircraft owned by Navy-contractor Phoenix Air were taking part in a training exercise when one crashed about a mile off San Clemente Island, roughly 80 miles off the coast of San Diego. All three people on board died.
Five Camp Pendleton Marines were killed June 8, 2022, when their MV-22B Osprey crashed during a training mission near Glamis in Imperial County.
In 2008, four family members — an infant, a toddler, their mother and their maternal grandmother — were killed when an F/A-18D crashed into their University City home after the aircraft lost power. The pilot ejected and survived.
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