A Hawker Hunter owned by civil contractor ATAC crashed into the sea off the coast of California on October 15. Although local news initially reported that the pilot was recovered with serious injuries, he is safe.
The aircraft involved, with callsign ATAC 12, was operating with another Hunter, with callsign ATAC 11, when the incident occurred.
Updated at 06:30 UTC, October 17, 2025
Through a source with firsthand knowledge of the incident, The aviationist may reveal that the Hunter aircraft suffered what is believed to be an engine problem or failure. Initially attempting to divert to the nearby Monterey Regional Airport, it soon became apparent that ATAC 12 would not be able to make it and the pilot decided to abandon the aircraft. The two Hunters were operating as “red air” for F/A-18 Hornets flying from Naval Air Station Lemoore at military training areas W283 and W285 off the coast.
ATAC, or Airborne Tactical Advantage Companyoperates a fleet of more than a dozen vintage Hawker Hunter aircraft that are regularly used as part of its contracted supply to military and government customers, including the US Army. The company describes the Hunter, which originally entered service with the Royal Air Force as a front-line interceptor in the 1950s, as a “versatile opponent” and employs the type in both role of air-to-air and air-to-surface aggressor during exercises.
Thanks to the recordings made by the Twitter/X user Aeroscoutwe can gather at least some information about what happened. After ATAC 12 went down, ATAC 11 surrounded the crash site and informed air traffic control of the incident by transmitting messages via nearby civilian aircraft. An MH-60S Seahawk search and rescue (SAR) helicopter was soon dispatched from Naval Air Station Lemoore, which maintains a permanent SAR flight station for such occasions.
An ATAC Hawker Hunter, “ATAC12”, sank off the coast of Big Sur this afternoon.
Screenshot shows “ATAC11” N326AX in low orbit above the site of the downed “ATAC12” (not visible)
“RESCUE04,” a NAS Lemoore SAR MH-60 responded and transported the pilot to Stanford.
Listen 👇 pic.twitter.com/dn85xDavJQ
– Aeroscout (@aeroscouting) October 15, 2025
MH-60 was able to recover the ATAC 12 pilot from the water, presumably having been ejected from the aircraft. Citing US Coast Guard, local news station KSBW 8 Action News reported that he was transported to Stanford Medical Center: while his condition was unknown, reports said it was understood he had suffered a serious spinal injury.
However, we later learned that the pilot is safe and has been released from the hospital.
The incident occurred shortly after 11:00 am Pacific Standard Time (PST), or 18:00 UTC, a few miles off the coast of Big Sur in central California. ATAC 11 transmitted a “general emergency” squawk 7700 around 11:25 a.m. PST as it continued to surround the crash area. The seas and airspace off California are extremely busy focal points for military training, exercises and tests, and it is not uncommon to see ATAC’s Hunters and other aircraft operating in this area on an almost daily basis.
ATAC Hawker Hunter from NAS Point Mugu. #ADSB #A3AFE6 pic.twitter.com/MZqOKRLXgl
– Amelia Smith (@ameliairheart) March 8, 2021
This is not ATAC’s first incident involving a Hawker Hunter. At least nine previous incidents involving the guy in ATAC service are recorded by the Air safety network, and at least four of them involved the total loss of a cell. In two of these cases, the accidents were also tragically fatal. The mention of a spinal injury on the local news. [which was later denied NdA] recalls the loss of a Hunter in 2018 off the coast of Hawaii, where the The pilot attributed the injury to the spine. had held in the plane’s old-style ejection seat. like a first generation seatRelying on less advanced technology, the ejection experience is much more demanding on the human body compared to current generation seats with modern technology and materials.
As ATAC 12 was not visible on aircraft tracking platforms at the time of the accident, the exact identity of the aircraft involved is currently unknown. ATAC operates single-seat Hunter F58s, which were previously Swiss Air Force airframes, as well as a handful of two-seat variants. The Hunter is also operated in the United Kingdom by Hawker Hunter Aviation, which provides similar contracted services to the British Ministry of Defence.
2023-04-24 厚木基地
Airborne Tactical Advantage Company
ATAC MK-58 Walking Hunter
N321AX, N322AX pic.twitter.com/ZIjlnL5vrO-はーむ (@MomoAtsugi) April 25, 2023
This article covers a breaking news story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
