Navy fighter jet crashes in California

Search and rescue efforts are underway after a Navy fighter jet crashed in California near a naval weapons station Wednesday. 

The F/A-18E jet crashed about 10 a.m. local time near the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, the Navy said. 

“At approximately 10:00 a.m PST an F/A-18E crashed near @NAWS_CL. Search-and-rescue efforts are underway,” the Navy tweeted.

At approximately 10:00 a.m PST an F/A-18E crashed near @NAWS_CL. Search-and-rescue efforts are underway.

— flynavy (@flynavy) July 31, 2019

The jet, assigned to ‘Vigilantes’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, had been on a routine training flight when a “mishap occurred,” the Navy said in a follow-up tweet about two hours later. 

The cause of the mishap is under investigation. 

Visitors at Death Valley National Park, near the site of the crash, suffered minor injuries, ABC News reports. A spokesperson for the park, Patrick Taylor, told the outlet the park received a report about the crash about 10 a.m.

A spokesperson for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, Carma Roper, told CNN they were helping to secure the area until the military arrived on scene.

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