Pilot killed in navy jet fighter crash in California desert

TRONA, Calif. (AP) — The Navy says one of its fighter jets has crashed in the Southern California desert, killing the pilot. The Navy says an F/A-18E Super Hornet based at Naval Air Station Lemoore went down at about 2:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Trona, an unincorporated Mojave Desert community in San Bernardino County. Nobody on the ground was hurt. The pilot’s identity and details of the crash weren’t immediately released. Last October, another Navy Super Hornet went down during a training mission in Death Valley National Park but the pilot safely ejected. However, a 2019 Super Hornet crash in the park killed the pilot and injured seven people on the ground.