Marine AV-8B Harrier Crashed In North Carolina, Fourth U.S. Military Aircraft Lost In May (Updated)
2018 was a terrible year for U.S. military aviation mishaps, but 2019 is now looking quite grim, as well.


A USMC AV-8B Harrier went down in Craven County, North Carolina around 6:15pm local time on Monday, May 20th, 2019. The pilot is said to have ejected from the stricken jet and survived.
The jet belonged to 2nd Marine Air Wing based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in the state. Details about the incident and the conditions on the ground where the Harrier went down remain very limited, but it comes as part of a new spate of U.S. tactical aircraft crashes that have occurred in recent weeks. These have included the loss of a T-6, a T-45, and an F-16 that careened into a warehouse in California.
This latest group of major mishaps follows a terrible year marked by numerous U.S. military aircraft crashes in 2018, including the loss of another USMC Harrier in Djibouti just over a year ago.
We will update this post as more information comes available.
UPDATE: 9:15pm PDT—
Some good news to report—there are no indications that anyone on the ground was hurt at this time. The Harrier crashed just east of MCAS Cherry Point in a wooded area. Local NBC affiliate WITN has reported the following:
Amber Lynn Onizuk lives near the crash site and heard it all. She tells WITN, "I was outside we were headed to bible study. We heard the Harrier flying and then a loud crash and I said that plane just crashed. We drove up the street and everybody was running outside. We saw smoke in the field where we just had the wildfire. We ran into the woods to see if we could help and he was standing there. He said he was fine and said he had ejected. He said he was flying for 45 minutes and knew something was wrong."
A big thanks to our won @Aerialimaging for shooting over some great info for this update!
We will continue to update this story as more info comes available.
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com
MORE TO READ

Related
An F-16 Has Crashed Near March Air Reserve Base In Southern California (Updated)
The base is home to a forward alert site for fighter aircraft tasked with providing air defense over and around Southern California.

Related
U.S. Air Force T-6A Turboprop Training Plane Crashed Near Lake in Oklahoma
The aircraft had departed from Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas before the incident occurred.

Related
US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier Crashes During Exercise in Djibouti
The aircraft appeared to fly out of control shortly after take off from Djibouti Ambouli International Airport forcing the pilot to eject.

Related
Turkey Is Interested in Buying Surplus USMC AV-8B Harriers, Others Likely To Follow
One air force’s trash is another air force’s treasure as they say!

Related