Ejected From F/A-18 Hornet Off The Coast Of Japan Wednesday

The Marine Corps is continuing its search for a pilot who went missing after ejecting from his F/A-18 Hornet Wednesday off the coast of Japan.

The Marine Corps expanded its search area and brought in additional assets for the search late Wednesday, according to USNI News. According to a statement from the III Marine Expeditionary Force, "The bilateral search and rescue efforts continued through the night with the U.S. military working closely with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force.”

The Marine Corps said in a previous statement that the fighter went down about 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, Japan. The pilot ejected at about 6:40 p.m. local time. “The aircraft was conducting regularly scheduled training at the time of the mishap. The cause of the incident is under investigation,” the statement said.

Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said in a separate statement that the search is far from over. "I’m not going to say we’re done until we’re done – and we’re not done; we're going to keep looking for this pilot," he said.

The accident is the ninth loss of an F/A-18 Hornet in six months, according to the website Frontline Videos.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.marines.mil