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U.S. Navy jet explodes, 10 hurt

31 March 2011 22:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ten U.S. Navy sailors were injured Wednesday afternoon when a Marine F/A-18C Hornet exploded into flames aboard the carrier John C. Stennis in San Diego, California, Navy officials said Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The sailors were working on the flight deck of the carrier during a training exercise when the jetâ€™s engine went out and exploded into flames. The jet is from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 which is based at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station near San Diego.

Four of the sailors were airlifted to a Navy hospital in the area and were recovering from the wounds. Others received treatment aboard the aircraft carrier about 100 miles(160 km) off Southern California.

The pilot aboard the F/A-18 was unhurt.

The jet received more than one million dollars in damage, but the Stennis did not sustain any significant damage.

The fire was put out quickly before it could spread, Navy officials said.

The Navy has been looking at the cause of the incident.