A military training jet plunged into the Pacific Ocean off California on Tuesday evening after its pilot reported losing engine thrust.

The U.S. Navy rescued the pilot roughly six miles northwest of Morro Bay.

The pilot was flying a single seat Mk.58 Hawker Hunter fighter jet when the emergency occurred.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I have lost thrust in my engine,” the pilot told an air traffic controller, according to an audio broadcast from @liveatc.

The controller attempted to direct the pilot toward the nearest airport, which was in Paso Robles, about 60 miles away. The source did not state whether the aircraft attempted to reach the airport before going down.

At about 7 p.m., U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles Long Beach received notification that an aircraft had gone down in the Pacific with one person aboard. Coast Guard Southwest District spokesperson Kenneth Wiese said the reported location was six miles northwest of Morro Bay.

Manuel J. Delarosa, a public affairs specialist for Navy Region Southwest, said a search and rescue crew from Naval Aviation Station Lemoore rescued the pilot. The crew transported the pilot to a trauma facility.

The pilot’s condition remained unknown. The pilot may have ejected before the crash, and the British designed, Cold War era Hawker Hunter is equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat for cockpit emergencies.

Airborne Tactical Advantage Company operated the aircraft involved in Tuesday’s crash. The private government contractor assists in training crews from the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, and uses the motto “Training Today’s Warriors for Tomorrow’s Challenges.”

FlightRadar24 reported that the aircraft used the call sign SNAKE4. It was conducting exercises off the coasts of Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County before the crash.

ATAC says it employs the Hawker Hunter in several training 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.”

The company did not immediately respond to requests seeking information about the pilot’s condition or further details about the crash. Tuesday’s incident was not the first involving an ATAC operated Hawker Hunter that lost engine power off California.

Another Hawker Hunter went down in the Big Sur area last October, leading to the rescue of its pilot.

A National Transportation Safety Board report said investigators could not determine the reason for that aircraft’s loss of engine power.

According to the report, the pilot said he and another aircraft had been providing adversary and tactical training for U.S. military aircrews.

While traveling to the training area, the pilot reduced engine power after learning that the fighter element was running about 10 minutes late.

The airplane suffered a complete loss of engine power soon afterward. The pilot attempted to restart the engine several times without success, then decided to eject, and the airplane was not recovered from the ocean.

A separate ATAC operated Hawker Hunter experienced a partial loss of engine power in 2022 and crashed into the Atlantic about 40 miles southeast of Wilmington, N.C. The NTSB report said the pilot made two unsuccessful attempts to restore engine power before ejecting at 3,000 feet above sea level and suffering serious injuries.

Investigators recovered the 2022 wreckage from the ocean. An examination found that a bearing had failed in the high pressure fuel pump, according to the report.

After Tuesday’s crash, Coast Guard crews searched the area for wreckage but did not locate any pieces of the downed aircraft. “It was already really dark at that point,” Wiese said.

“They ended up returning to base sometime after the person had already been rescued.”

Wiese estimated that the jet likely carried about 400 to 1,000 gallons of fuel. Crews planned to investigate possible navigational hazards or pollution, and he urged mariners “to navigate the area with caution and report any debris or pollution” to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles Long Beach.

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