US F-18 fighter plane crashes off Virginia Beach coast

A US Navy F-18 fighter jet crashed off the coast of Virginia Beach in state of Virginia Wednesday and the sole pilot aboard ejected from the aircraft, said U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy announced the accident via its twitter account. The fighter plane, which originated from the Navy's Oceana Naval Air Station, crashed at about 2:30 p.m EDT (1930 GMT) when it was conducting routine training exercises. U.S. Coast Guard also confirmed that the fighter jet crashed about 72 kilometers off the coast and the pilot was later rescued by a fishing vessel. He was conscious when he was picked up by a Navy helicopter but was said to be currently in critical condition, local WAVY.com reported. Wednesday's accident came one week after another Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter crashed off the coast of Virginia Beach. Among the five crew on board, two died later in the hospital and two others were injured. U.S. Navy on Tuesday recovered the body of the missing pilot aboard the copter after days of search.