Marine fighter jet crashes in Washington state, pilot escapes with minor injuries

A Marine F/A-18 Hornet came down near Rimrock Lake in Yakima County just after noon Saturday, and the pilot ejected before impact and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Marine officials said the jet belonged to Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and that it was on routine training when the aircraft went down about 10 miles east of White Pass and roughly 125 miles southeast of Seattle.

The crash ignited the Pine Tree Fire, which had grown to about two acres by 5:04 p.m. and was burning just off Forest Road 1241. Firefighters from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and the Naches Fire Department responded with helicopters and at least one engine, while officials evacuated campers, closed the 1200 road system on the south side of Rimrock Lake and completed structure protection near the Bear Creek cabins. The lake sits in a busy recreation corridor off Highway 12, where the forest service lists boating, camping and hiking access as major draws.

The Marine Corps said the crash was a “non-fatal aviation mishap” and that the cause remains under investigation, a process that can take months. The service uses the Web-Enabled Safety System to route initial mishap reports through the chain of command for validation, then follows aviation mishap classification and reporting timelines under its safety toolbox, which is designed to ensure hazards are examined and controlled quickly after an incident.

The broader safety picture shows why one crash can trigger so much scrutiny. In the Navy’s public aviation mishap tables, manned-aircraft class A flight mishaps totaled 11 in fiscal 2025, compared with a 10-year average of 8.2, a reminder that military aviation accidents are uncommon but recurring enough to drive formal investigations and risk reviews. For communities near recreation areas like Rimrock Lake, the immediate concern is not just the pilot’s condition but the fire danger, road closures and evacuation orders that can follow within minutes.