Car chase ends with crash into jet at California Naval base

LEMOORE, Calif. – U.S. military officials say a wrong-way driver being chased by the California Highway Patrol crashed through a gate and into a fighter jet at Naval Air Station, Lemoore, killing the driver and a passenger.

The Navy says in a press release that the chase began late Wednesday when an officer spotted the vehicle going the wrong way on State Route 198 south of Fresno.

The driver eventually left the freeway, smashed through a gate at the base and into a parked FA-18E Super Hornet.

The passenger died at the scene. The driver died at a hospital.

Officials say the car hit the jet’s horizontal stabilizer but have not detailed the damage.

Naval Air Station, Lemoore, built in 1961, has two runways and hosts four Carrier Air Wings.

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