Pentagon: Two Navy Jets Crashed Into Pacific Ocean, One Pilot Missing

LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) -- Two U.S. Navy jets crashed into the western Pacific Ocean, where one pilot was rescued and another was missing, the Pentagon said Friday. A search for the missing pilot was underway.

The F/A-18C Hornet fighter jets were from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California's San Joaquin Valley. The air wing is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

The crash occurred at 5:40 p.m. local time in an unspecified area of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, according to a U.S. 7th Fleet statement. There were no immediate details on how the crash occurred.

The Navy said the rescued pilot was returned to the carrier and was receiving unspecified medical attention.

All other aircraft that were airborne at the time were safely recovered.

The search for the missing pilot involved the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley and two helicopter squadrons.

The Navy statement said initial reports indicated the jets involved in the crash were from Strike Fighter Squadron 94 and Strike Fighter Squadron 113.

The Carl Vinson and the four other ships of its strike group departed San Diego on Aug. 22 for what was announced as a 9 1/2-month deployment.

An F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed in June as it prepared to land on the Carl Vinson off the Southern California coast. The pilot was able to eject safely.

That crash happened just hours after a Harrier AV-8B fighter jet crashed into a Southern California neighborhood, destroying two homes and badly damaging a third. No one was seriously hurt.

About a month earlier, a Marine Corps Harrier jet had crashed on tribal land south of Phoenix, but the pilot was able to safely eject. And on March 1, Marine Capt. Reid Nannen was killed in a fighter jet crash during a training exercise in Nevada.