By admin 
The crash of a military training jet off the California coast left the airfan community mourning the loss of an aircraft that once lit up the skies of the United Kingdom under the name Miss Demeanour.
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Operated by the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, or ATAC, the jet suffered engine failure and went down around five miles off the coast of Morro Bay at around 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday, I have lost thrust in my engine,” the pilot can be heard saying on radio traffic as an air traffic controller tries to direct him to the nearest airport, which was Paso Robles.
The aircraft, a single-seat Cold War-era MK-58A Hawker Hunter fighter jet, was conducting exercises off the Monterey and San Luis Obispo County coasts with at least three other planes, FlightRadar24 showed.
The Hawker Hunter’s pilot, whose identity remains unknown, was rescued by the Navy after safely ejecting from the crash and was transported to Fresno Community Hospital for evaluation.
Meanwhile, Miss Demeanour’s Facebook page, which chronicled her adventures under the ownership of Jonathon Whaley and his United Kingdom-based Heritage Aviation company, marked the loss of the plane earlier this morning.
“I’m devastated to hear that Miss Demeanour was lost … at sea in the USA,” the post read. “The pilot ejected safely and was rescued.”
Hawker Hunter was staple of UK airshows
Miss Demeanour was originally built for the Royal Air Force in 1956 as a Mark F.4 XF947 plane, according to Heritage Aviation, which owned the craft from 1997 through the mid-2010s.
The airframe was converted to an MK-58A after being purchased by Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1971 as part of a contract with the Swiss Air Force, Heritage Aviation said.
After serving as a “target tug” — a plane that tows a target for other aircraft to practice shooting — for the Swiss Air Force, the Hawker Hunter was retired again in 1996, entering private ownership under Heritage Aviation, which refurbished the plane and painted it with its signature yellow, orange and star-spangled midnight color scheme.
Miss Demeanour would then become a fixture at airshows for the next two decades, until Whaley announced that the jet was up for sale in 2017.
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Its most recent owner was the Newark, Delaware-based Hunter Aviation International Inc, which contracted with ATAC. ATAC operates “red air” training missions that involve legacy fighter platforms standing in for enemy fighters.
Hertitage Aviation’s post about the crash drew sad reactions from longtime fans of the plane’s exploits.
“This aircraft was a major highlight for me at my local Clacton Airshow in previous years,” one commenter said. “It’s a shame that they lost the aircraft. But I am happy to hear that the pilot ejected safely.”
Others celebrated her time in the air, flashing her distinctive paint scheme.
“Such a sad loss to our aviation history, and a flying tribute to all who brought Miss Demeanour to life, and kept her in her natural habitat — the skies,” another commenter said. “Glad the pilot is safe.”
GoPro videos posted to YouTube and Heritage Aviation’s page show Miss Demeanour performing at airshows and executing stunts on other flights.
Cause of crash remains under investigation
FlightRadar24 showed the jet, call sign SNAKE4, performing oval exercises off Monterey Bay, then flying south at a distance from the other planes before meeting up off San Simeon with one of them, call sign VIPER1, and flying down along the SLO County coast.
Off Harmony Headlands State Park near Cayucos, SNAKE4 disappeared from the radar before the other jet circled the area, a recording of the jet’s path on FlightRadar24 showed.
The crash was reported at around 6:49 p.m., according to PulsePoint.
A Coast Guard ship was deployed to the site from Morro Bay, but the pilot had already been picked up by the Navy, the Coast Guard told The Tribune and flight data from FlightRadar24 showed.
This story was originally published September 23, 2026 at 1:38 PM with the headline “Jet lost off SLO County coast was once an airshow star known as Miss Demeanour.”
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