(Ben Margot | AP Photo) In this Feb. 27, 2017 photo, an F/A-18D Hornet from the VX-9 Vampire squadron at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, flies out of what is known as Star Wars Canyon toward the Panamint range in Death Valley National Park, Calif. On Wednesday, July 31, 2019 a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet jet crashed Wednesday in the California desert and a search-and-rescue operation was underway, officials said. The single-seat warplane went down at 9:50 a.m. during a routine training mission north of the China Lake base.