[DM] Incredible images captured the moments after a fishing boat crew saved two US Navy pilots when they ejected from a fighter jet over the San Diego Bay.
The Premier vessel was first on the scene when the plane nosedived on Wednesday morning, with the explosion captured on shocking surveillance video.
Brandon Diets, the captain of the fishing boat, said his first thoughts were to race over to find the survivors after seeing them parachute down and 'hit the water.'
'I just thought 'We gotta go,' and we headed straight for them' he told NBC San Diego.
'We didn't know if they were hurt... we just knew there were people in the water and we had to get them out.'
Before the crash, Diets said he noticed the plane 'seemed a little louder than normal', and by the time he turned around he could see two orange parachutes in the air.
The aircraft, a EA-18G Growler fighter jet, was flying 'super low' and stayed in the air for a couple of minutes before it dived into the water, he said.
Witness Conner Palmer said the crew was enjoying a regular day out on the water when the jet crashed nearby, and in a moment 'one of our co-workers was up on deck and started calling us up.'
'It seemed like you were watching a Star Wars movie, it crashed down straight into the water, massive explosion of water and sand, and you just honestly had no idea what you just watched,' he said.
Witness Carol Gonzales said she knew 'something was happening' when she saw two orange parachutes dip into the bay, and 'the next thing you know (the aircraft) was coming straight down into the water.'
Emergency crews including 60 personnel, two boats, five fire engines and a helicopter team were rushed to the scene around 10:15am local time, San Diego Fire and Rescue said.
Several crews with the Navy were also seen working the crash site to prevent fuel from spilling into the waters from the downed aircraft as they work to retrieve it.
The owner of the fishing boat that picked up the pilots said staff on the boat acted quickly when they saw the aviators eject from the military aircraft.
'As all of our crews are trained in lifesaving efforts, immediately came about, turned around picked up both pilots that were in the water,' general manager Frank Ursitti told NBC San Diego.
'And as they were boarding the pilots on the water, [the captain] observed the plane actually ditch into San Diego Bay.'
He said the two pilots were conscious when they were pulled from the water. Both were raced to UC San Diego Medical Center in stable condition after being rescued.
Palmer added that once the pilots were saved from the water, he saw them hugging each other and 'checking the other was okay' in a heartwarming moment.
The pilots were kept under 24-hour medical observation, but are both in good condition, the Navy said in a press release on Wednesday evening.
The most recent incident involving an EA-18G Growler aircraft came in October 2024, when one of the Navy fighter jets crashed near Mount Rainier in Washington State, leading to the deaths of both pilots on board.
"In calculating what reciprocal tariff rate to levy on other nations, he said his administration will be also be taking into account nations with value-added taxes, which he labeled “far more punitive than a tariff.”
Please. VAT is not a tariff, and it isn't pun itive. It's levied on everything a consumer purchases.
Example: If I buy a German car, I pay 19% VAT. If I import a car from the U.S., I also pay 19% VAT (called import tax in that case).
There's nothing "punitive" about it.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/13/2025 16:42 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
