Overview
- The single‑seat Hawker Hunter Mk.58 operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company crashed about six miles northwest of Morro Bay on Tuesday after the pilot radioed “Mayday” saying he had lost engine thrust, and the pilot ejected and was rescued by a U.S. Navy search‑and‑rescue helicopter and taken to a Fresno hospital.
- U.S. Coast Guard crews searched the area but have not located wreckage or observed an oil sheen, and mariners have been asked to report any debris or pollution in the vicinity.
- The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have opened investigations into the accident and the Navy ordered a precautionary grounding of ATAC’s 22 Hawker Hunters that week.
- The crash adds to a pattern of ATAC Hunter power‑loss incidents, including a similar October 2025 ocean crash and a 2022 Atlantic accident where an NTSB post‑crash inspection found a failed bearing in a high‑pressure fuel pump.
- The Navy grounding could hamper contractor‑run adversary training while recovery teams face hard‑to‑reach wreckage and the risk of hundreds of gallons of jet fuel at sea, so investigators’ findings on the engine and fuel‑system components will be key to restoring operations.