image: Wikimedia
The pilot was killed when an F/A-18C fighter jet crashed Thursday night during a training mission in southern California, the Marine Corps has reported. The crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. in the vicinity of the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center near Twentynine Palms, about 140 miles east of Los Angeles. The pilot, whose name has not been released, was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based out of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego.
The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft. It has been flown since the 1970s by both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations and, since 1986, by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.
