---
title: "Marine AV-8B Harrier Crashed In North Carolina, Fourth U.S. Military Aircraft Lost In May (Updated)"
description: "2018 was a terrible year for U.S. military aviation mishaps, but 2019 is now looking quite grim, as well."
date: "2019-05-20"
modified: "2019-05-21"
authors:
  - name: "Tyler Rogoway"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway"
url: "https://www.twz.com/28127/marine-av-8b-harrier-crashed-in-north-carolina-fourth-u-s-military-aircraft-loss-in-may"
categories:
  - "Air"
  - "Americas"
  - "Around The Globe"
  - "Attack"
  - "Harrier"
  - "News & Features"
  - "Sea"
  - "U.S. Homeland"
  - "U.S. Marine Corps"
tags:
  - "AV-8B"
  - "Crash"
  - "Craven Country"
  - "Harrier"
  - "Jump Jet"
  - "Marines"
  - "MCAS Cherry Point"
  - "Mishap"
  - "North Carolina"
  - "usmc"
---

# Marine AV-8B Harrier Crashed In North Carolina, Fourth U.S. Military Aircraft Lost In May (Updated)

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-twz/content/2019/05/add1cc.jpg>)
*www.twz.com*

A USMC AV-8B Harrier went down in Craven County, North Carolina around 6:15pm local time on Monday, May 20th, 2019. The pilot is said to have ejected from the stricken jet and survived.

The jet belonged to 2nd Marine Air Wing based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in the state. Details about the incident and the conditions on the ground where the Harrier went down remain very limited, but it comes as part of a new spate of U.S. tactical aircraft crashes that have occurred in recent weeks. These have included the [loss of a T-6](<https://www.twz.com/27769/u-s-air-force-t-6a-turboprop-training-plane-crashed-near-lake-in-oklahoma>), a [T-45](<https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/05/14/training-jet-crash-injures-two/>), and an F-16 [that careened into a warehouse](<https://www.twz.com/28075/f-16-crashes-near-march-air-reserve-base-in-southern-california>) in California.

This latest group of major mishaps follows a terrible year marked by [numerous U.S. military aircraft crashes](<https://www.twz.com/24910/yet-another-usaf-t-38-talon-trainer-has-crashed-the-fifth-in-12-months>) in 2018, including the [loss of another USMC Harrier](<https://www.twz.com/19871/us-marine-corps-av-8b-harrier-crashes-during-exercise-in-djibouti>) in Djibouti just over a year ago.

We will update this post as more information comes available.

***UPDATE: 9:15pm PDT—***

Some good news to report—there are no indications that anyone on the ground was hurt at this time. The Harrier crashed just east of MCAS Cherry Point in a wooded area. Local NBC affiliate [WITN has reported the following](<https://www.witn.com/content/news/Craven-County-officials-report-military-plane-crash-510186951.html>):

> Amber Lynn Onizuk lives near the crash site and heard it all. She tells WITN, "I was outside we were headed to bible study. We heard the Harrier flying and then a loud crash and I said that plane just crashed. We drove up the street and everybody was running outside. We saw smoke in the field where we just had the wildfire. We ran into the woods to see if we could help and he was standing there. He said he was fine and said he had ejected. He said he was flying for 45 minutes and knew something was wrong."

![message-editor%2F1558414749590-189026c6-df64-4d6e-9d6c-b9e2c9651ecc.jpeg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1558414749590-189026c6-df64-4d6e-9d6c-b9e2c9651ecc.jpeg>)
*The pilot walking away from the crash site with a Sheriff Deputy. , *WRAL Screencap**

![message-editor%2F1558415750544-militaryplanecrash\_1558395035535.jpg\_88381709\_ver1.0\_640\_360.jpg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1558415750544-militaryplanecrash_1558395035535.jpg_88381709_ver1.0_640_360.jpg>)
**NCDOT**

A big thanks to our won @Aerialimaging for shooting over some great info for this update!

We will continue to update this story as more info comes available.

*Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com*

## Author
Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel>)