Navy and FAA confirm plane crash near Wrightsville Beach

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Authorities are investigating after a single engine plane crashed off the coast of Wrightsville Beach Monday afternoon.

According to the FAA, the plane crashed about 40 miles Southeast of the Wilmington International Airport just after 5 pm Monday.

According to both the U.S. Navy and the FAA, there was only one person onboard. That pilot ejected themselves from the plane. According to viewers, a civilian spotted the crash and was able to help rescue the pilot.

In response the U.S. Navy said, “On June 20, during the George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group composite training unit exercise, a civilian pilot ejected from a commercial air services Hawker Hunter aircraft off the coast of North Carolina after reporting an engine malfunction. The pilot was recovered by a U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter and transported to the New Hanover Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. The incident remains under investigation at this time.”