North Carolina?: Boeing F/A-18E/F ‘Super Hornets’ Collide Off Of United States Coast Near Cape Hatteras

Two United States Navy Boeing F/A-18E/F jets or “Super Hornets” have collided into each other off of the coast of North Carolina Thursday.

The United States Navy Super Hornets collided mid-air off the North Carolina coast during a routine training mission.

Four United states Navy servicemen have reportedly been hospitalized after the super hornet collision. According to the Independent, the Navy Super Hornets were based in Virginia Beach and collided, on accident, at 10:40 a.m.

United States Navy Officials announced Thursday that the Super Hornets collided off the coast of Cape Hatteras.

U.S. Coast Guard rescue specialist Geoffrey Pagels reported that three out of the four Navy servicemen were unscathed by the mid-air collision while one Navy pilot was left with minor leg injury.

The Navy servicemen who were the victims of the collision were rescued by a commercial fishing ship at Cape Hatteras off of the coast of North Carolina.

Members on the ship pulled the four Navy survivors out of the Atlantic Ocean to safety. The group was then flown to a Coast Guard hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Navy said in a statement,

“All aircrew have been recovered and are en route to medical facilities for evaluation”

According to NBC News, the two F/A-18F Super Hornets collided following “an in-air mishap.” The Coast Guard was notified immediately after the Super Hornets suffered the mishap.

The Navy reports that the two Super Hornets were assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211. VFA-211 is based at Naval Air Station Oceana.

According to Boeing’s website, the F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, twin-engine, fighter jet fully equipped to fight in all weather conditions and capable of taking off from an aircraft carrier.

Boeing also claims that the Super Hornet possesses next generation radar and internal technology systems guaranteed to be ahead of the competition.

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Boston Herald reports that Navy officials are currently not sure if two fighter jets collided before or after falling into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina.

However, the Coast Guard had initially noted that the Super Hornets collided in air before crashing to the ground.

Naval Air Force Atlantic spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker also confirmed that the F/A-18 Super Hornet collision is still under investigation. She told reporters that United States Navy and Coast Guard officials are “happy to have brought everyone home safely.”

She also said that the four Navy crew members involved in the Super Hornet collision are in “very high spirits” despite the frightening high-speed crash.

Photos taken by news stations and bystanders on the scene captured the U.S. Navy pilots safely entering the hospital as coverage on the entire incident continues,

Continuing coverage of the Navy Super Hornet crash. WATCH LIVE 13News Now at 4: https://t.co/uH9aCV4Tqp pic.twitter.com/zr9zsHbP1R

— 13News Now (@13NewsNow) May 26, 2016

Navy says two aircraft that collided off the North Carolina coast were F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters. https://t.co/YCZ4i8ypQd

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 26, 2016

According to Daily Mail, the sea route which the Super Hornet collided on is frequently traveled on by ships entering and leaving Norfolk. In fact, it is one of the busiest cargo ports on the East Coast of the United States.

The helicopter which air lifted the Navy pilots to the Norfolk hospital was dispatched from the Coast Guard’s air station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the Super Hornet collision incident.

How do you think the Boeing Super Hornet planes collided? What could have been the “mishap” that officials are attributing as the cause of the North Carolina coast crash?

[Photo by Mark Wilson/AP Images]