The Navy is trying to piece together what exactly caused one of their most advanced fighter jets to crash into San Diego Bay after its two pilots ejected during take-off from a runway at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI).
The investigation will likely uncover why the EA-18G Growler aircraft reportedly continued flying over Point Loma neighborhoods – without aviators aboard – before looping back into the bay.
According to Beth Teach, the public affairs officer for Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF), the two pilots were training as part of a multinational military exercise known as Bamboo Eagle, which is spread across many other bases and includes members from the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and British Royal Air Force. These military branches are all commanding and supporting more than 150 aircraft over 15 locations.
The fighter jet went down at 10:15 a.m. Feb. 12 during a “go-around” maneuver – when the plane lands but then immediately takes off without stopping.
The EA-18G Growler had taken off from North Island when it crashed into the bay between Kellogg Beach and the tip of Shelter Island, according to Teach.
An article by the Union Tribune detailed an eyewitness account that said after the pilots ejected, the plane continued flying towards Point Loma homes before circling around and crashing into the bay.
The crew members were recovered by a local charter fishing boat from H & M Landing, according to NBC7. The pilots were brought on board the boat within minutes and were taken to a local hospital for assessment. Both are in stable condition.
Harbor Police assisted in the retrieval of the pilots. After the recovery, they secured a maritime perimeter where the plane crashed, said Daniel Moen, a detective sergeant with the Port of San Diego.
As of Feb. 13, the Navy had not revealed the identities of the pilots due to privacy reasons, Teach said.
Efforts to retrieve the aircraft have not yet been successful due to weather conditions, but pending assessments and safety preparations, the operation is expected to take place as soon as possible, according to a new update from CNAF, the command that is conducting the investigation.
There will be multiple investigations from different departments, including from the Aviation Mishap Board and Safety Investigation Board, said Teach.
“When investigations happen, the findings guide corrective actions and serve as lessons to fortify aviation safety standards,” Teach said. “It’s to ensure that we learn from every incident and do our best to reduce mishaps over time.”
There have been at least three EA-18G Growler crashes in the past three years, including today’s – the previous two fatal.
In October 2024, there was a Growler crash near Mount Rainier during a routine training flight, and it killed the two pilots in the jet. In June 2022, another pilot was killed when his plane went down in Trona, California.
And before that, there was a Growler crash in 2017 that occurred midair from a collision with another aircraft.
Questions emerged after the crash in 2022 on why there wasn’t a safety system installed in the jet that might have prevented the pilot’s death.
The system is known as an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System and is designed to temporarily take control of a jet for short periods of time if the pilot loses consciousness or gets distracted, according to the Navy Times.
It has not been revealed yet whether or not this system would have helped in today’s incident, but the Navy previously declined to explain why it had not been installed in the fleet.
The first Growler went into production in 2004 and made its first flight in August of 2006, but had its first deployment for Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-132 in November of 2010. It is a variant in the F/A-18 family of aircraft and has an electronic warfare suite, which means it uses electromagnetic energy to detect and defend against enemy electronic systems.
