An F/A-18E Super Hornet on the ground at Naval Air Station Oceana on May 30, 2025. (Justin E. Yarborough/U.S. Navy)
A Navy pilot based at Naval Air Station Oceana was rescued from the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia’s coast Wednesday after ejecting from an F/A-18E Super Hornet, according to a service statement.
The pilot from Strike Fighter Squadron 83 ejected just before 10 a.m. and was rescued about an hour and 20 minutes later, said Lt. Jackie Parashar, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. The pilot was transported to a local hospital “for further medical evaluation,” though the pilot’s condition was not disclosed.
Parashar said the fighter jet remained in the ocean late Wednesday afternoon.
It was not clear what led the pilot to eject during the “routine training flight.” Authorities were beginning an investigation into the incident, Parashar said.
Strike Fighter Squadron 83, known as the Rampagers, flies F/A-18Es out of NAS Oceana and deploys aboard aircraft carriers. It last deployed in late 2023 for nine months aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. During that deployment, its pilots flew more than 1,000 combat flight hours in the Red Sea against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen who were attacking commercial and military vessels, according to the Navy.
