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Two F-18s crash off California coast, four missing
Point Sur (California), Oct 19: Two navy fighter jets crashed into the pacific off the California coast today during a training mission, military officials said. All four crew members were missing.
Point Sur (California), Oct 19: Two navy fighter jets crashed into the pacific off the California coast today during a training mission, military officials said. All four crew
members were missing.
The F/A-18-F super hornets crashed 80 miles southwest of Monterey while engaged in aerial combat exercise with six other fighter jets, the navy said. The two F-18s were not carrying any weapons. At the Pentagon, Navy Spokesman Cmdr. William Fenick said he did not know whether the planes collided.
A coast guard plane, an Air National Guard helicopter and a commercial fishing vessel were at the site searching for the missing aviators. There was no sign of survivors but the fishing boat, the white dove, had found a debris field one mile in diameter, coast guard spokeswoman Veronica Bandrowsky said.
The crew was from the Black Aces Squadron at the Lemoore Naval Air Station near Fresno.
Officials refused to release the identities of the missing pilots, all of whom were experienced aviators who had flown F-14 Tomcats over Afghanistan, said Lemoore spokesman Dennis McGrath. Their families had been notified. "You always have hope you're going to find them," McGrath said. "We're waiting on pins and needles."
F/A-18F jets, used by the navy and the Marine Corps, carry two people and are designed for traditional strike operations and close air support.
The crashes were the first involving Super Hornets, which were launched in 1999.
Bureau Report Bureau Report
The F/A-18-F super hornets crashed 80 miles southwest of Monterey while engaged in aerial combat exercise with six other fighter jets, the navy said. The two F-18s were not carrying any weapons. At the Pentagon, Navy Spokesman Cmdr. William Fenick said he did not know whether the planes collided.
A coast guard plane, an Air National Guard helicopter and a commercial fishing vessel were at the site searching for the missing aviators. There was no sign of survivors but the fishing boat, the white dove, had found a debris field one mile in diameter, coast guard spokeswoman Veronica Bandrowsky said.
The crew was from the Black Aces Squadron at the Lemoore Naval Air Station near Fresno.
Officials refused to release the identities of the missing pilots, all of whom were experienced aviators who had flown F-14 Tomcats over Afghanistan, said Lemoore spokesman Dennis McGrath. Their families had been notified. "You always have hope you're going to find them," McGrath said. "We're waiting on pins and needles."
F/A-18F jets, used by the navy and the Marine Corps, carry two people and are designed for traditional strike operations and close air support.
The crashes were the first involving Super Hornets, which were launched in 1999.
Bureau Report Bureau Report