A vintage military fighter jet that was ditched at sea off Kewalo Basin on Dec. 12 with the pilot ejecting seconds before has been located in pieces in about 300 feet of water, the Coast Guard said.

District 14 Deputy Public Affairs Officer Chief Sara Muir said it’s the Coast Guard’s understanding that the single-seat fighter “is in a least two pieces, (and) it might be more fragmented than that.”

A marine salvage company hired by the Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., the plane’s operator, might attempt to salvage it.

“That is our understanding: Their intent is still to recover it,” Muir said, adding that the Coast Guard was waiting to review a recovery plan.

The salvage company said it was initially unable to locate the camouflage-painted jet with sidescan sonar and planned to bring in a technician to run a tethered remotely operated vehicle as part of the search.

Pilot Matt Pothier, 47, ejected and ditched the jet about 2 miles from Kewalo Basin shortly after takeoff from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Pothier was aided in the water by the X-treme Parasail boat, which was nearby with about about 10 tourists aboard.

The aircraft rapidly sank. The state Health Department said the total fuel capacity of the jet was estimated at 1,000 to 1,700 gallons, plus an estimated 10 gallons of hydraulic oil and 9.5 pints of turbine oil.

Pothier said something went wrong with his aircraft and that he couldn’t make it back to the airport.

Virginia-based ATAC was flying two contracted Hawker Hunters at the time in an enemy, or “red air,” role in the Hawaii Air National Guard’s big Sentry Aloha fighter training exercise.

The British-made jets first flew in 1951. ATAC’s two Oahu-based Hawker Hunters have been participating several times a month with Hawaii Air Guard F-22 Raptors, and make regular appearances in Rim of the Pacific exercises every other year. The contracted jets cost far less to fly than current-­inventory military aircraft.

According to flight-­tracking websites, the crashed Hawker Hunter was number N323AX, which was manufactured in 1958.

The ongoing government shutdown likely has delayed the release of a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report. The full investigation could take a year or longer.

ATAC spokesman John Zentner said in an email Thursday that “there’s not much I can comment on while the incident is under investigation, though we can confirm aircraft salvage operations are ongoing and the pilot is at home and recovering.”