Have you ever seen a fighter yet crash into the sea? And I’m not talking about a stalling, spiraling crash, but one where it darts into the water like a spear? A short clip on Reddit is going viral because it shows just that: a US Navy fighter jet’s spectacular, lightning-fast crash into San Diego Bay.
The incredible clip shows the calm waters of San Diego Bay, California on February 12. Suddenly, out of nowhere, at an almost 45-degree angle, a fighter jet spears into the water. The jet makes a huge splash, as you’d expect. There’s a secondary splash, this one accompanied by smoke, as the jet presumably explodes beneath the water’s surface.
I’ve covered videos of military jet crashes before. A recent one, at Eielson Air Base, Alaska, showed a fighter jet crash, falling like a stone to the ground. This clip in San Diego Bay, however, is unusual for the sheer velocity of the jet as it crashes. I’m not an aviation expert, but it does seem like it’s traveling at the sort of speed you’d expect it to fly at. There’s no hint that the jet is damaged or has stalled.
Many on Reddit were similarly astonished by the speed. One user commented, “I don’t know how fast I was expecting that to be, but god damn, that came in like a bullet.” One commenter jokingly rated the dive: “8.5 / 10, clean entry but a little too much splash.”
All jokes aside, of course the most important thing is the safety of the pilots. Thankfully, reports confirm that both of the pilots ejected safely prior to the crash. In fact, it seems the pilots were picked up a fishing boat in the area. The fishing boat’s website shows images of the soaked pilots following their rescue. The cause of the spectacular fighter jet crash is currently unknown.
The incident is particularly notable, however, coming on the back of so many military aircraft-related incidents. The most tragic one of these, of course, is the terrible disaster at Washington D.C. when 67 people lost their lives, resulting in an ignominious blame game.
We don’t know the reason for this spate of recent military aircraft incidents, if a single cause can even be attributed. A US Airforce veteran on Reddit pointed out, however, that “this is not common,” apparently not even in times of war.
