VIDEO: Pilot OK after fiery Navy jet crashes in California cotton field

LEMOORE, Calif - A pilot was able to parachute to safety after an F-35C fighter jet crashed in an agricultural field near a central California naval installation, the Fresno County Sheriff said. 

Deputies were alerted to the fact that a military jet had crashed and was engulfed in flames around 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

Deputies, firefighters, California Highway Patrol officers and EMS crews found the plane, which had caught on fire, in a cotton field just north of Lemoore Naval Air Station, the sheriff said. 

The pilot, who had ejected, was found with a parachute in a nearby field, the sheriff’s office said. He was flown to a hospital for evaluation and was expected to be OK.

Firefighters used a bulldozer to cut a path to the jet so fire engines could get close enough to extinguish the fire, according to the sheriff's office, which posted video of the fiery aftermath. 

The military is now conducting an investigation to try and determine the cause of the crash.