A Marine fighter jet crashed Monday about a mile short of a runway at an eastern North Carolina air base, killing the pilot, a Marine Corps spokesman said.

The pilot’s identity was being withheld until next-of-kin was notified and an investigation had begun, Barton said. The AV-8B Harrier jet was assigned to Marine Attack Training Squadron 203.

How many dead Marines will it take to stop funneling tax dollars into this aircraft?

The Harrier, renowned for its ability to take off and land vertically, has long been the military’s most dangerous airplane. Bedeviled by recurring mechanical problems and maintenance glitches, it has amassed the highest rate of major accidents of any armed forces plane.

Forty-five Marines have died in the single-seat jet, with the last fatalities coming in 2001 [as of 2005]. More than one-third of the fleet has been lost to crashes. The planes that went down in the last month cost taxpayers at least $24 million apiece.