A Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet has gone down near Naval Air Weapons Stations China Lake in California. The condition of the pilot is unknown and search and rescue operations are already underway. NAWS China Lake is the Navy's premier weapons and aircraft test and development base in the western United States. It is surrounded by the sprawling R2508 Complex, which includes 'Star Wars Canyon,' that supports testing and training from numerous bases in the region, including Edwards AFB, Plant 42, Fort Irwin, and others. NAWS China Lake is also the epicenter of the recent powerful earthquakes that struck California in early July, 2019. In these past War Zone articles, you can read all about the base and what it is like to work there.

We will update this post as more information comes available. UPDATE: 1 pm PDT— Multiple reports are coming in to us that the Super Hornet slammed into the canyon wall just below the parking area at the famous 'Star Wars Canyon,' also known as the 'Jedi Transition' and 'Rainbow Canyon.' The site is a Mecca for aviation photographers that capture military aircraft rushing through the steep canyon on low-level training sorties. We have done dozens of posts on this amazing place and the photos and videos are captured there. We have been told that there were some injuries in the parking lot, supposedly they were burn-related. As always, details are subject to change as this is a rapidly developing story. We will continue to update this story in real-time as more info comes to light. Update: 1:25pm PDT—

A couple of perspectives from Google Earth of the parking area in relation to the canyon:

Google Earth

Google Earth