Navy pilot rescued from Virginia waters as F/A-18 fleet faces string of recent mishaps

A Navy pilot was rescued from the waters off Virginia on Wednesday after an F/A-18 Super Hornet went down during a routine training flight.

The crash happened around 10 a.m. ET, according to Lt. Jackie Parashar, a spokesperson for Naval Air Force Atlantic. The pilot, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83 in Virginia Beach, was found by search and rescue crews at 11:21 a.m. and taken to a local hospital. The jet remains in the water as the Navy investigates the cause.

Once the investigation is complete, the Navy will decide whether to order a safety stand-down — a pause in operations to focus on safety training and risk reduction.

The incident is the latest in a string of F/A-18 mishaps. In May, a Super Hornet slid into the Red Sea after failing to land on the USS Harry S. Truman. Both pilots ejected safely. A week earlier, another jet rolled off the Truman’s deck during a towing operation.

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A Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet landing on a carrier. ( Kittie VandenBosch-U.S. Navy/Getty Images)

In December, a Super Hornet from the "Red Rippers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 at Naval Air Station Oceana was shot down in a friendly fire incident over the Red Sea.

Each F/A-18 costs about $67 million, according to Naval Air Systems Command.

One former senior defense official told Fox News Digital that the recent mishaps "deserve to be examined — especially in light of all the other extreme challenges the Navy is facing." The official added: "It’s interesting to me that the F-35 and V-22 receive extensive scrutiny from the press when a mishap occurs, yet the rates of those aircraft stand up well compared to the Navy’s Super Hornets, which somehow get a pass."

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 In May, a Super Hornet slid into the Red Sea after failing to land on the USS Harry S. Truman. (Andreas Solero/AFP via Getty Images)

Another source familiar with Navy procurement said the recent accidents were not unexpected, which was one reason the service agreed to buy 17 more Super Hornets in 2024.

Since fiscal year 2015, the F/A-18 and its variants (F/A-18E, F/A-18F, and EA-18G) have been involved in 42 Class A flight mishaps — the most serious category, covering accidents that result in death, a destroyed aircraft, or more than $2.5 million in damage. That averages out to about 4.2 Class A mishaps a year, or 2.18 per 100,000 flight hours, according to data provided to Fox News Digital by Naval Safety Command.

Across all manned Navy aircraft, the average Class A mishap rate was 2.29 per 100,000 flight hours.

A week earlier, another jet rolled off the Truman’s deck during a towing operation. (Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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In 2023 and 2024, the Navy recorded seven Class A flight mishaps each year. As of August 2025, there have been seven Class A flight mishaps, three involving F/A-18s.

The F/A-18 fleet has also experienced 82 Class B mishaps — accidents involving permanent partial disability, the hospitalization of three or more crew, or $600,000 to $2.5 million in damage — and 307 Class C mishaps, which involve injuries resulting in missed work or $60,000 to $600,000 in aircraft damage, over the past decade.