Four Navy aircrew parachute to safety moments before E-2C Hawkeye plane crashes while on training flight in Virginia
A military plane has crashed in Virginia, with four people parachuting to safety shortly before it hit the ground.
The crash happened near Nelsonia, along Mason Road, on Monday afternoon.
A Navy spokesman confirmed to DailyMail.com that all four people on board - two pilots, two crew members - bailed out of the EC-2 Hawkeye before it crashed.
An E-2C Hawkeye, similar to the one pictured, crashed on Monday in Virginia
The plane was reportedly flying from the Norfolk air base.
Aurora Intel, a monitoring service, said that a C-30J (OTIS22) and a T-38 (MIG2) were flying over the crash site.
The U.S. Naval Academy describes the Hawkeye as 'the Navy's all-weather, carrier-based tactical battle management airborne early warning, command and control aircraft.'
The plane is a twin engine, five crewmember, high-wing turboprop aircraft.
Hawkeyes have a distinctive 24-foot diameter radar rotodome - a rotating radar - attached to the upper fuselage.
The Navy describes the Hawkeye as 'the eyes of the fleet', and they have been used since the Vietnam War.
The current version of the Hawkeye, the E-2C, became operational in 1973, and surpassed one million flight hours in August 2004, the Navy said.