Newly obtained body camera footage shows the dramatic moments a U.S. Marine pilot, bloodied and dazed, walked to a rural road after ejecting from his F/A-18 fighter jet just before it crashed into a mountainside in Washington state this summer, according to ABC News.
The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office released the footage Friday, showing the aviator approaching deputies with his phone in hand, the 911 screen visible. The pilot, assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based in Miramar, California, appears shaken up, his face bloodied from the ordeal.
“I came over that tree line. I clipped those trees,” the pilot tells deputies in the video, which was broadcast by ABC.
Disoriented But Alive
When asked a question that is inaudible in the broadcast portion, he responds, “I’m not sure exactly. I’m a little –” and gestures to indicate he’s disoriented from the ejection.
In parts of the video not broadcast but reported by ABC, a first responder asks the pilot, “What kind of jet is that?”
“That’s an F-18. Well, that was an F-18. We were doing circles over the lake, doing some low-level training. …And then I tucked in, and I’m not sure exactly,” he says.
Later in the footage, the pilot is seen making a phone call, telling someone, “Hey, buddy, I just crashed.”
The Crash
The incident occurred on June 13, when the F/A-18 Hornet slammed into a mountainside near Rimrock Lake, roughly 55 miles southeast of Seattle. The impact sent up a plume of smoke and ignited a wildfire, with the crash itself captured by campers and widely shared on social media.
The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said at the time that the pilot was conducting routine training when the jet experienced a “non-fatal aviation mishap.” The cause of the crash remains under investigation, according to ABC.
Ejecting from a fighter jet is a last-resort emergency procedure. Pilots are violently launched from the cockpit using explosive charges and rocket motors, subjecting the body to forces up to 20Gs—20 times the force of Earth’s gravity.
The pilot’s identity has not been released. The release of the body cam footage offers a rare, unfiltered look at the aftermath of a high-stakes ejection and the calm professionalism of the deputies who were the first to reach him.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2026/08/15/watch-marine-pilot-shows-up-rural-road-ejecting-f-18-about-crash/