A battered Marine pilot ejected from his fighter jet moments before it slammed into a mountainside in Washington state – and miraculously walked away nearly unscathed.
The narrowly spared pilot was flying an F/A-18 Hornet during routine training on June 13, when he experienced a ‘non-combat aviation mishap’ that sent the jet crashing into a mountainside, according to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Shocking new video shows the bloodied, shaken pilot approaching Yakima County officers while on the phone with 911.
An officer asked the pilot what kind of aircraft he was flying, to which he responded: ‘That’s an F-18. Well, that was an F-18.’
He added: ‘We were doing circles over the lake, doing some low-level training. And then I tucked in, and I’m not sure exactly.’
A witness in the footage chimed in, turning to the pilot and saying: ‘You hit the tree bad, bud.’
Later in the video, the shaken pilot can be seen calling to alert others about the crash.
Shocking new video shows the bloodied, shaken pilot approaching officers after he ejected from his aircraft
When the aircraft slammed into the mountainside, it sent a plume of black smoke into the sky and sparked a raging wildfire
‘Hey, buddy, I just crashed,’ the pilot says before the footage cuts to his parachute dangling from a tree.
The pilot told officers he went through trees during his descent after ejecting, as they examined his bloody face, which appeared to have suffered parachute-related lacerations.
The aircraft slammed into a mountainside near Rimrock Lake, about 55 miles southeast of Seattle.
When the aircraft slammed into the mountainside, it sent a plume of black smoke into the sky and sparked a raging wildfire.
The pilot, whose name has not been released, is assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11, part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in Miramar, California.
Multiple witnesses called 911 to report the crash, including one woman who could be heard sobbing as she described the accident, Scripps News reported.
‘I just witnessed a jet crash, and there’s fire,’ she told the dispatcher in audio obtained by the outlet.
The pilot, whose name has not been released, is assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11, part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in Miramar, California
Multiple witnesses called 911 to report the crash, including one woman who could be heard sobbing as she described the accident
The outlet also obtained the pilot’s 911 call, in which he said: ‘I’m on the other side of the ridge.
‘I do see a fire burning to the south of the road. I can’t tell how bad that fire is.’
The charred fighter jet was worth close to a staggering $67 million, a military spokesperson told the outlet.
