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An F-5N Tiger jet with Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 111 Sun Downers lands at Naval Air Station Key West’s Boca Chica Field after training with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122 Flying Eagles in June 2020.

An F-5N Tiger jet with Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 111 Sun Downers lands at Naval Air Station Key West’s Boca Chica Field after training with Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 122 Flying Eagles in June 2020. (Danette Baso Silvers/U.S. Navy)

A Navy fighter pilot was rescued Wednesday morning after ejecting from his jet over waters north of Key West, service officials said.

The pilot, assigned to Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., ejected from his F-5N about 25 miles north of the air station’s Boca Chica Field at about 9:20 a.m., according to a Navy statement. An F-5N is a Navy single-seat adversary fighter jet used in air-to-air combat training.

The pilot was rescued by a MH-60S helicopter search-and-rescue crew from NAS Key West and was taken to a Miami-area hospital for “further evaluation,” according to the statement. The pilot’s status was not immediately available Wednesday.

Additional details about the incident were scarce, including the reason the pilot chose to eject, a service spokesperson said. An investigation was expected to begin shortly.

The pilot was assigned to NAS Key West’s Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 111 “Sun Downers,” the Navy said. The unit is a Navy Reserve squadron.

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Corey Dickstein covers the military in the U.S. southeast. He joined the Stars and Stripes staff in 2015 and covered the Pentagon for more than five years. He previously covered the military for the Savannah Morning News in Georgia. Dickstein holds a journalism degree from Georgia College & State University and has been recognized with several national and regional awards for his reporting and photography. He is based in Atlanta.

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