2 Navy pilots safely eject after training jet crashes in Mississippi

Two U.S. Navy pilots safely ejected when the training jet they were flying crashed Tuesday afternoon in eastern Mississippi, officials said.

The crash of the T-45C Goshawk occurred at 12:30 p.m. local time on private farmland in Noxubee County, according to a statement from Naval Air Training Command.

The two pilots aboard safely ejected and were taken to an area hospital for evaluation, the NATC said. Local authorities and U.S. military personnel responded. The cause of the crash is under investigation. No further details were immediately provided. 

The aircraft was based out of Training Air Wing One in Meridian, Mississippi.

According to the NATC, the T-45C Goshawk is a tandem seat aircraft designed to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots.

Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas at a cost of about $17 million per plane, the T-45C Goshawk went into operation in 1997, according to the NATC.

McDonnell Douglas was acquired by Boeing in the late 1990s.