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Harrier crashes off ship, pilot reported OK
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 30, 2011 15:59:40 EDT
An AV-8B Harrier jump jet crashed Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden shortly after taking off from the amphibious assault ship Boxer, military officials told Marine Corps Times.
The pilot ejected and wasn’t seriously injured, according to Marine Corps and Navy officials.
The Harrier is assigned to the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet region aboard three ships with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group.
It took off from the ship at 5:19 p.m. local time, but “immediately after take off the aircraft rolled right and (the pilot) ejected,” officials said.
The pilot, flying with the call sign of “Evil Eye 55,” was picked up by a Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter within about seven minutes of the incident.
Once returned to the Boxer, the pilot “walked off the aircraft under his own power.”
The squadron is investigating the cause of the crash.
The 13th MEU and Boxer ARG left California in February on a scheduled deployment to the Middle East and Western Pacific regions.
The 4,000-member naval force arrived in the 5th Fleet region on March 25.
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