'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!': Military training jet plunges into ocean off California coast

Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times on Sep 23, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — 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.

The pilot ejected from the aircraft at about 6:40 p.m., before it crashed into the water, said John Rupp, director of global military sales at Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., a private government contractor that operates the aircraft. The company helps train crews with the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

A British-designed Cold War-era fighter jet, the Hawker Hunter is equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat that allows the pilot to blast out of the cockpit in an emergency.

“Our pilot is safe and sound,” Rupp said Wednesday, noting the pilot was picked up by a Navy search-and-rescue helicopter and brought to a hospital in Fresno. “We’re hoping he’s going to be released today.”

Manuel J. Delarosa, a public affairs specialist for Navy Region Southwest, said that a search-and-rescue crew based out of Naval Air Station Lemoore rescued the pilot.

According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft, which went by call sign SNAKE4, was conducting exercises off the coast of Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.

“His flight was part of a contract that we support for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and we routinely fly with them out on the West Coast,” Rupp said. “I can’t speak to the specifics of yesterday’s mission because of security issues.”

ATAC — a company with the motto “Training Today’s Warriors for Tomorrow’s Challenges” — 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.”

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 Ocean 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.

Asked about the incidents, Rupp said the company’s fleet is subject to a routine, scheduled inspection regimen.

“Our company flies on a contract, and we get a flight clearance from the United States Navy,” Rupp said. “We don’t believe that there’s any overarching technical deficiencies in the aircraft, obviously, and we wouldn’t be able to gain a flight clearance from the Navy if they were deficient. “

“They do a turnaround inspection every time they fly,” Rupp added.

After Tuesday’s crash, Coast Guard Southwest District spokesperson Kenneth 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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