Marine Corps F/A-18C pilot Capt. Jake Frederick was killed when his Hornet crashed Wednesday off the coast of Japan, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Frederick, who was stationed with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, ejected from the aircraft at about 6:40 p.m. local time on Dec. 7. The aircraft, which crashed nearly 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, Japan, was “conducting regularly scheduled training at the time of the mishap,” the service announced. The crash was the fifth involving an F/A-18 this year. In May, two F/A-18F Super Hornets collided and the pilots safely ejected off the coast of North Carolina. In June, a Navy Blue Angels pilot was killed when his F/A-18 crashed during an airshow practice in Smyrna, Tenn. And in August, a Marine Corps pilot died when his F/A-18 went down during a training mission near the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.