Video captured the moment two Royal Air Force pilots ejected from a training jet shortly before it crashed in a fireball in Wales.
The Royal Air Force said the Hawk T2 incident occurred near Anglesey on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, after the aircraft took off from RAF Valley in northwestern Wales.
Both pilots survived and were reported to be in good condition. “Both pilots are doing well, they are in extremely good spirits and expected to make a full recovery,” the RAF said in a statement. A formal investigation is underway, while Hawk T1 and Hawk T2 flying operations have been temporarily suspended as a precaution.
A Royal Air Force Hawk T2 training aircraft crashed in Wales on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (Danni Jones via Storyful)
Footage recorded by local resident Danni Jones and obtained by Storyful shows the two pilots descending by parachute as flames and smoke rose from the Welsh countryside.
The RAF describes the Hawk T2 as “a high-performance, 2-seat training jet equipped with advanced avionics and synthetic radar to simulate front-line combat aircraft like the Typhoon.”
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The Royal Air Force BAE Systems Hawk T2 is seen at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, on July 20, 2024. (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The aircraft is used mainly for advanced jet training, helping prepare RAF pilots for the complex tactical conditions they may encounter in frontline operations, the service said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
A Royal Air Force British Aerospace Hawk T2 flies along the Machynlleth Loop, a set of valleys in north Wales where pilots train in low-level flying, on March 27, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
RAF Valley on Anglesey is home to No. 4 Flying Training School, which trains the United Kingdom’s next generation of fighter pilots. The base also provides instruction for aircrew preparing for mountain and maritime operations around the world, according to the RAF.
