California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Jobinger says the plane went down north of the Lemoore Naval Air Station on Monday afternoon.
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As for what caused the crash and whether the plane was heading to the base or away wasn’t immediately clear, and Navy officials at Lemoore and San Diego offered little information in the couple of hours after the crash. The pilot of the single seat aircraft ejected safely and is in good condition.
The pilot ejected, and Hinkle said he could see what “looked like a parachute”.
Ashliman said the crash is under investigation.
Two of the Cold War-era jets from the base crashed into the western Pacific Ocean past year, while embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
Ashliman said the airfield was temporarily shut down following the crash, but was expected to resume operations Monday evening.
The last crash near Lemoore took place in April 2011, when an F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed on private farmland just west of the base, the Sentinel reported.
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Lt. Matthew Ira Lowe, 33, and Lt. Nathan Hollingsworth Williams, 28, were on a training mission when their fighter jet crashed into a Fresno County farm field. The maneuver was removed from demonstration flights following the crash.
