The US Navy launched a search-and-rescue operation Wednesday after an F/A-18E Super Hornet jet crashed Wednesday near a military airbase in Star Wars Canyon in Death Valley.
“Search and rescue personnel are on scene and the status of the pilot is currently unknown,” Lt. Commander Lydia Bock of the Joint Strike Fighter Wing said in a statement to CNN. “The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.”
Seven park visitors on the ground suffered minor injuries in the crash, a spokesman for Death Valley National Park told CNN.
Military craft are generally prohibited from flying over national parks, but an exception was made for a portion of Death Valley about 25 years ago, spokesman Patrick Taylor said.
The jet, part of the “Vigilantes” strike force, went down around 3 p.m. EST near the naval air station at China Lake — more than 200 miles from the jet’s home base at a naval base in Lemoore, Cal.
The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office secured the area following the crash as naval authorities organized the search for the pilot, CNN reported.
The F/A-18 is a twin-engine combat jet that makes up the backbone of the navy’s airborne fleet.