Aviators survive with minor injuries in fighter-jet collision

OREGON INLET, N.C. — Two Navy fighter jets collided and crashed Thursday in the waters about 25 miles east of here.

The F/A-18F Super Hornets, based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., crashed about 10:40 a.m. ET off the North Carolina coast following an “in-flight mishap,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. She did not have further details.

The crew of the commercial fishing vessel Tammy rescued two of the crew members and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter plucked two others from the water, the Coast Guard said in a statement. Two helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., responded, one taking the aviators off the fishing ship, and took both sets of crew members to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk, Va.

Ships entering and leaving Norfolk, one of the busiest cargo ports on the East Coast, are heavy users of the sea route where the jets crashed.

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The two-seater fighter jets were on a routine training mission when they collided, said Ensign Mark Rockwellpate, a Navy spokesman.

“In my opinion, the guys got pretty lucky,” said Derick Ansley, an aviation survival technician with the Coast Guard who helped rescue two of the downed aviators. “Everything happened exactly the way it should have in that situation, and somebody was looking over their shoulder when it was happening.

"For people to walk away from that is a pretty amazing thing,” he said. Some of the wreckage from the jets was still on the water's surface when rescuers got to the men.

The four aviators suffered minor injuries but are in “very high spirits,” said Lt. Cmdr. Krystyn Pecora of the Coast Guard.

"It was a textbook rescue," she said. "So happy we can bring these Navy service members back to their families."

All were “alert and talking” when they were picked up, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

Two aviators climbed on on stretchers as they exited the helicopter to be taken into the Norfolk hospital. The other two walked into the hospital on their own.

Naval Air Force Atlantic officials will conduct an investigation to determine what happened, Rockwellpate said.

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The Navy has used variations of the F/A-18 since 1995. On May 12, 2015, one of the fighter jets crashed in the Persian Gulf, and its two crew who ejected were recovered without significant injuries, the Navy Times reported.

The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft that operates in tactical squadrons at stations around the world and from 10 aircraft carriers, the Navy said on its website. The Super Hornet, the newest model, has a longer range, aerial refueling capability and better safety features and has more effective attack capabilities.

Each of the planes costs at least $57 million, the Navy said.

Contributing: Meghann Myers, Navy Times; The Associated Press