Washington: A US Navy fighter jet has crashed off the coast of Key West, Florida, killing its two crew members, a media report said.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet was on approach to land at the naval air station around 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday when it crashed into the waters about a mile east of the runway.

The pilot and weapons system officer ejected and were recovered, Naval Air Forces Atlantic spokesman Dave Hecht was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

However, late on Wednesday, the US Naval Air Forces reported that both had died. Their names were withheld pending notification of next of kin, the New York Post said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.

The aircraft crew was based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, in Virginia Beach. The Super Hornet is a twin-engine fighter jet that is larger than the single-seat F/A-18 Hornet.

The jet was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 213. It experienced a glitch near the Naval Air Station Key West in the area of Chica Key, Xinhua quoted authorities as saying.

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Patna, Dec 26: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Thursday slammed the BJP over alleged heckling of a woman artist who sang a bhajan, known to be a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, at a function organised on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee a day ago.

The RJD supremo, on his X handle, alleged that the BJP leaders had taken exception to the phrase 'Sita Ram' and asked the singer to apologise before erupting in roars of "Jai Shri Ram".

The well-attended function was held on Wednesday at Bapu Sabhagar, a sprawling state-of-the-art auditorium in the heart of the city.

The septuagenarian alleged that the incident was "reflective of the misogyny that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar was known for" and its "disdain for females was resulting in disrespect for 'Sita Mata'."

However, BJP sources, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that the newspaper report shared by Prasad in an earlier tweet clearly stated that the furore was not over 'Sita Ram', but the subsequent stanza - 'Ishwar Allah Tero Naam'.

The sources claimed that party workers were opposed to the "recital of a line that was not part of the original verse composed by 15th-century poet Narsi Mehta, but inserted later, apparently in line with Gandhi's Hindu-Muslim unity plank".