Marine Fighter Pilot Confirmed Dead After Crashing Into Pacific Ocean

By JONATHAN SOBLEDEC. 9, 2016

Capt. James Frederick in 2013. Credit Marine Corps

TOKYO — A United States Marine Corps fighter pilot whose jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a training exercise in Japan on Wednesday has been confirmed dead, the Marine Corps said on Thursday.

The pilot, Capt. James Frederick, 32, ejected from his F/A-18C fighter jet. His body was recovered from the sea by the Japanese navy, known as the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.

The cause of the crash was still unknown, the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Captain Frederick belonged to the First Marine Aircraft Wing, which is based on the island of Okinawa in southern Japan and at Iwakuni on the main Japanese island, Honshu. About 50,000 American military personnel are stationed in Japan, where the United States has maintained bases since the end of World War II.

Captain Frederick was on a regularly scheduled training exercise, the Marine Corps said, without elaborating. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the pilot,” it said.

The plane went down in the Pacific about 120 miles southeast of the Iwakuni base, the Marines said.

Captain Frederick’s wife, Kiley, is pregnant with the couple’s second child, Stars and Stripes reported, citing the captain’s mother, Donna Frederick. Before enlisting in the Marines, he attended W. B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, Tex., and the University of Texas at Austin, Stars and Stripes said.