El Toro : Marine Jet Clips Power Line, Sparks Brush Fire
An A-4 Skyhawk jet from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station clipped a power line during a training run over Camp Pendleton on Tuesday, touching off a small brush fire and forcing the aircraft to return to its base, the Marine Corps said.
The pilot of the ground-attack plane was conducting a routine, low-level training flight about noon when it struck the line in the Aliso Canyon area of the base, about three miles northwest of Camp Pendleton’s Oceanside gate, Marine Corps spokesman Pfc. Craig Larsen said.
The pilot, whose name was not released, escaped injury and flew the plane back to the El Toro base. The aircraft sustained unspecified damages, the Marines said.
Firefighters from Camp Pendleton put out the brush fire in less than an hour, Larsen said, adding that the incident is under investigation.
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