A Hawker Hunter lost thrust and plunged into the Pacific Ocean about six miles northwest of Morro Bay on Tuesday evening after the pilot ejected. The civilian pilot was rescued about an hour later and taken to a hospital in Fresno.
At about 6:40 p.m., the pilot broadcast, “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I have lost thrust in my engine,” before the aircraft went down. A search-and-rescue crew based out of Naval Air Station Lemoore reached the pilot about 7:30 p.m. and a Navy search-and-rescue helicopter carried him to Fresno for medical care.
John Rupp on the pilot
John Rupp, director of global military sales at Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., said Wednesday, “Our pilot is safe and sound,” and added, “We’re hoping he’s going to be released today.” He also said, “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.” The aircraft was operating as SNAKE4, and FlightRadar24 said it was conducting exercises off the coast of Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.
Last October in Big Sur
The crash comes after another ATAC Hawker Hunter went down in the Big Sur area last October and prompted a rescue of the pilot. A National Transportation Safety Board report on that incident said the reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.
ATAC describes the Hawker Hunter on its website as a transonic fighter in the air-to-air role, a stable platform in the air-to-surface role, and a versatile opponent in fleet integrated training exercises. The recurring question now is whether this loss of thrust came from a problem that can be identified before the next flight, or whether it will join the earlier case in the file of incidents with no stated cause.
