Pilot rescued after military-style plane crash lands in ocean off SLO County

A military-style jet crash landed in the ocean north of Morro Bay on Tuesday evening.

Navy rescued pilot after aircraft went down off Morro Bay, Coast Guard says

Update, 10 p.m.:

A Navy crew rescued the pilot of an aircraft that went down in the ocean about 6 miles northwest of Morro Bay on Tuesday evening, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach watchstanders received notification of the downed aircraft, and Terminal Radar Approach at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport confirmed the Navy rescue, Coast Guard Southwest District spokesperson Kenneth Wiese said. The person’s condition was not known.

Coast Guard Station Morro Bay responded after the rescue but did not locate the aircraft or wreckage, Wiese said.

The Coast Guard urged mariners to use caution in the area and report any debris or pollution to Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Original story:

A military-style plane reported engine trouble and made what radio traffic described as a successful water landing in the ocean about 5 miles northwest of Morro Bay on Tuesday evening.

“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 MK-58 Hawker Hunter fighter jet, registration N345AX, was conducting exercises off the Monterey and San Luis Obispo County coasts with at least three other planes, FlightRadar24 showed.

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.

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Off Harmony Headlands State Park, SNAKE4 disappears from the radar before the other jet circles 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 helicopter was deployed from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, but the pilot had already been picked up by the Navy, the Coast Guard told The Tribune and flight data from FlightRadar24 showed.

The helicopter then flew the pilot to a hospital in Fresno. The condition of the pilot was unknown as of Tuesday night.

It’s unclear where the jet was based or where its flight originated from, but the plane it was flying with, VIPER1, took off from Point Mugu Naval Air Station near Oxnard, FlightRadar24 showed.

SNAKE4 apparently didn’t turn on its transponder until it was already off Monterey, so the beginning of its flight doesn’t appear on the site.

After the crash, VIPER1 and another jet returned to Point Mugu.

Emergency responders were initially sent to the area of the crash, but the balance of the response was canceled, according to radio traffic monitored by The Tribune at about 6:56 p.m.

This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 8:07 PM with the headline “Pilot rescued after military-style plane crash lands in ocean off SLO County.”