Marine F/A-18 Hornet pilot who crashed near Japan is confirmed dead

The US Marine Corps pilot who ejected from his aircraft before crashing off the coast of Japan on Wednesday has died.

The F/A-18 Hornet -from the III Marine Expeditionary Force’s 1st Marine Aircraft Wing based out of Okinawa, Japan-  went down during a regular training mission at around 6:40 PM local time, roughly 120 miles southeast of the MCAS Iwakuni.

A U.S. Marine Corps spokesman has confirmed that Marine Corps Capt. Jake Frederick was killed.

Joint search efforts with Japanese military ships and aircraft were carried out throughout the night on Wednesday.

“Search/Rescue effort ongoing for Marine pilot who ejected from F/A-18 today 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, Japan. Keep in prayers,” a tweet read after the accident.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed to local media Thursday that a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ship had recovered Frederick, but did not report on his condition, according to Military.com.

The crash of another Marine aircraft adds one more stroke to a disturbing picture of Marine aviation incidents that have plagued 2016, including when all non-deployed aircraft were grounded for 24 hours, an action resulting from three F/A-18 crashes in the span of sixty days.

The Japanese governor of Kochi, Masanao Ozaki, suggested he would call for a suspension of low-altitude training flights over Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands which has four prefectures including Kochi, by the U.S. military until the cause of the accident is clear, according to a Kyodo news report.

“The incident was very regrettable. We want to request that the government ask the U.S. side to clarify the cause of the accident and come up with preventive measures,” Ozaki told reporters.

Frederick’s brother, Joe Bob Frederick, is also a Marine and a C-130 Hercules pilot flight instructor in Corpus Christi.

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