Two Marine pilots survived a midair collision Wednesday morning off the coast of Southern California.

One of the pilots ejected safely into the water following the 11:43 a.m. accident and the other made an emergency landing at the nearby North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, Marine officials said.

Coast Guard and Navy search-and-rescue teams received a mayday call at 12:11 p.m. Sailors from the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson scrambled to retrieve the Marine pilot 30 minutes later, according to a Marine Corps statement.

Both pilots were reported as being in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon, and the cause of the crash is under investigation.


Their single-seat F/A-18 Hornets belonged to the “Black Knights” of Fighter Attack Squadron 314 stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

The Wednesday accident follows a string of recent mishaps involving F-18 fighters.

On Oct. 25, an F-18C Hornet crashed and burned at the end of a routine training flight at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. The pilot ejected safely.

A Blue Angels F/A-18C jet crashed near Smyrna, Tennessee on June 2, killing its aviator, Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss.


And two F/A-18F Super Hornets collided off the Atlantic Coast on May 26 near Naval Air Station Oceana. Four aviators were rescued.

cprine@sduniontribune.com