A Marine Corps aviator emerged bloodied but walking after ejecting from an F/A 18 Hornet moments before the fighter slammed into the ground in Washington state.
Body camera footage shows the pilot approaching first responders while holding a phone and calling 911.
The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office released the footage Friday, offering a remarkable look at the immediate aftermath of the June 13 crash.
The Marine appeared composed despite blood covering parts of his face and the wreckage of his aircraft burning nearby.
The fighter went down around noon near Rimrock Lake, close to Mount Rainier and about 55 miles south of Seattle.
The aircraft belonged to Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and was conducting what the wing called a “routine training flight.”
Bystander video captured the Hornet descending toward the terrain, spiraling several times and exploding when it hit the ground.
The pilot ejected shortly before impact and was later transported to a hospital with injuries described as minor.
The newly released footage shows the aviator already free of his parachute and walking down a road toward the arriving emergency crews.
Considering he had just punched out of a doomed fighter, the Marine looked remarkably steady on his feet.
The pilot described himself as “a little frazzled,” which may qualify as the understatement of the month.
He nevertheless answered questions, explained what had happened and contacted fellow Marines while responders examined the cuts visible across his face.
CBS News first reported on the body camera recording and identified the aviator as a Marine major.
The Marine Corps has not officially confirmed his identity, and officials told Task & Purpose they could not provide additional comments because the investigation remains underway.
As rescuers approached, they immediately sought to determine whether anyone else had been aboard the aircraft.
“Are you the only pilot?” one responder asked, and the Marine confirmed that he had been flying alone.
The emergency personnel then checked the aviator for injuries and asked what kind of aircraft had gone down. He initially identified it as an F/A 18 before dryly correcting himself with, “Well, that was an F-18.”
That bit of battlefield style humor arrived with wreckage still smoldering in the distance.
The line also captured the blunt reality of military aviation, where a multimillion dollar fighter can become scattered debris in seconds while survival depends on training, equipment and a little providence.
While speaking with medics, the Marine began recounting the training mission that preceded the crash.
“We were doing circles over the lake, doing some low-level training,” he says in the footage.
He then attempted to explain the aircraft’s final moments but acknowledged that his memory remained understandably unsettled. “And then I tucked in, and I’m not sure exactly, honestly, I’m a little bit frazzled.”
The footage also shows him walking around the scene and using a cell phone to notify his fellow Marines. His summary was direct, memorable and unmistakably military: “Hey buddy, I just crashed.”
The Hornet accident joined a troubling series of military aviation mishaps inside the United States during the previous four months.
An F-35B assigned to the same Marine Corps unit crashed in Southern California the month before, adding another serious incident for investigators to examine.
Other recent crashes included a B 52 accident at Edwards Air Force Base that killed three civilians and five airmen.
An AH-64 Apache also crashed in Texas the previous week, killing two soldiers and extending an already grim aviation safety roll call.
For now, the cause of the Washington crash has not been announced, and the Marine Corps investigation continues.
What the footage does establish is that the aviator survived a violent ejection, walked toward rescuers and delivered one of the most matter of fact crash reports imaginable.
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