Navy jet crashes off San Diego coast; 2 crew members rescued

Editor’s notice: This story was up to date Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, with extra reporting from AP.

LOS ANGELES — Two crew members ejected from a U.S. Navy jet earlier than it crashed Wednesday off the San Diego coast and have been shortly rescued by a sportfishing boat, authorities mentioned.

The 2 occupants of the EA-18G Growler have been first picked up by the Premiere Sportfishing vessel then transferred to a close-by Customs and Border Safety vessel, mentioned Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Christopher Sappey.

On a reside webcam of San Diego harbor site visitors, somebody aboard the Premiere may be heard telling the Coast Guard that the crew members ejected proper after takeoff.

“We’re on our method to assist help,” the person known as in about 10:14 a.m. “They’re within the water.”

Shortly afterward, somebody from the boat added, “We have now each pilots on board and protected.”

Photographs posted by the fishing firm on its web site seem to indicate two individuals dropping into the water with parachutes.

The 2 males have been taken to an space hospital, the place they have been in steady situation, authorities mentioned.

The Coast Guard has two vessels now safeguarding the Growler wreckage within the San Diego Harbor, Sappey mentioned. Additional particulars of the crash weren’t instantly accessible.

The Growler is a two-seater jet that focuses on digital warfare.

An analogous Navy jet crashed final October throughout a routine coaching flight in Washington state, killing its two crew members. The plane wreckage was present in distant mountainous terrain.

Copp reported from Washington, D.C.