U.S. Navy jet crashes into San Diego Harbor; crew ejects safely

A U.S. Navy jet crashed into the water in San Diego Harbor on Wednesday after its two aviators ejected, authorities said. The two were rescued.

Emergency crews received reports about the incident shortly after 10 a.m. in the 1500 block of Shelter Island Drive. San Diego Fire-Rescue confirmed the aircraft splashed into the water. First responders arrived in less than 10 minutes, the department said.

A Navy spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Video footage shared on social media showed multiple rescue boats heading toward the area where the jet crashed into the water. The U.S. Navy confirmed that the aircraft was an E/A-18G Growler and it crashed while landing.

“Naval Base Coronado has stood up an Emergency Operations Center in response to the mishap, and assessment of the crash site is ongoing,” the Navy said in a statement.

The aircraft is part of the Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 135 and the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Justin Eaves said he was able to hear the jet from his hotel near the shore, according to reporting from OnSceneTV.

“It went really low from what you could tell because it was super cloudy,” Eaves said. “It did a couple of maneuvers and you could hear it when it went over the motel. It was kind of quiet, but then it kicked up again and all of a sudden a few seconds later we just saw the plane go straight down into the water.”

The U.S. Coast Guard told San Diego news station KGTV that the aviators were only in the water for a minute before they were able to board a fishing boat. The two crew members were then transferred to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat and eventually taken to Hillcrest Medical Center at UC San Diego where they were reported as stable.

The aircraft is believed to have crashed into the harbor between Point Loma and Naval Air Station North Island, less than 3 miles from San Diego.