(HONOLULU) — A pilot is in stable condition after an aircraft crashed in the ocean off Hawaii on Wednesday, authorities said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says a Hawker Hunter jet went down in the ocean around 2:25 p.m. after taking off from Honolulu’s airport.
He said in an email the plane went down about 3.5 miles south of one of the airport’s runways.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam spokesman Charles Anthony says it was a military-affiliated plane, but it may be civilian.
U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Sara Muir says the pilot is in stable condition after being rescued about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Oahu near Honolulu’s Sand Island.
He says he hasn’t confirmed whether the plane was participating in Air Force exercises called Sentry Aloha.
The website of defense contractor BAE Systems says the Hawker Hunter is a British jet developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara says departing flights from the Honolulu airport are being held as a precaution.
