Rescuers end ocean search for fighter pilot ADVERTISING Rescuers end ocean search for fighter pilot LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Rescuers on Saturday have called off their search of the Pacific Ocean for a Navy fighter pilot whose jet was one
Rescuers end ocean search for fighter pilot
LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Rescuers on Saturday have called off their search of the Pacific Ocean for a Navy fighter pilot whose jet was one of two that crashed west of Wake Island.
The Navy said Saturday that it presumes the pilot is dead after failing to find him during a 36-hour search. The Navy declined to release the pilot’s name pending notification of his family. The Navy said the crash is under investigation and didn’t release any more details.
“This is an exceptionally difficult time for the friends and family of the missing pilot and the Navy community,” Rear Admiral Christopher Grady said.
The two F/A-18C Hornets collided in midair about 5:40 p.m. local time about 250 miles west of Wake Island. The island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.
“The two F/A-18C aircraft … had launched from the flight deck (of the USS Carl Vinson) and were in the process of proceeding to their initial stations when they apparently collided approximately seven miles from the ship,” the Navy said in a statement.
The other pilot safely ejected, was rescued from the ocean by helicopter and was treated and released from medical facilities aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.
The pilots and their squadron are from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
All other aircraft that were airborne at the time safely returned to the ship.
The search for the missing pilot involved the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley, the USS Sterett, the USS Dewey and two helicopter squadrons.
The Carl Vinson strike group team departed San Diego on Aug. 22 for what was announced as a 9 1/2-month deployment.
The F/A-18C is a twin-engine, single-seat strike fighter, designed to function both as a fighter — in roles such as engaging enemy aircraft — and as an attack aircraft, bombing ground targets for example. Fifty-six feet long and with a wingspan of 40½ feet, Hornet C models have been deployed since the late 1980s.
Pa. trooper is killed in late-night ambush
BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. (AP) — Two troopers were ambushed outside a state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania during a late-night shift change, leaving one dead and another injured, and authorities scoured the densely wooded countryside and beyond on Saturday looking for the shooter or shooters.
One trooper was leaving the barracks in Blooming Grove, Pike County, and another was arriving when shots were fired at 10:50 p.m. Friday, State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said.
He identified the dead lawman as Cpl. Bryon Dickson and said Trooper Alex Douglass was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
“This attack was an ambush. Our troopers were . shot without warning and really had no chance to defend themselves,” Noonan told reporters Saturday afternoon. “It’s a cowardly attack. It’s an attack upon all of us in society.”
Noonan provided few details on the shooting but said the attack was directed at state police.
“It has touched us to the core that such a thing could happen,” he said.
Law enforcement officials from across the region, including New York and New Jersey, descended on the Pocono Mountains to help with the search on foot and by helicopter. The Blooming Grove barracks is in a wooded area, surrounded by state game lands.
Police interviewed a man they called a “person of interest” but Noonan said authorities are talking to hundreds of people as part of the investigation. He stressed the man is not a suspect.
Several roads around the barracks, including parts of Interstate 84, were closed Saturday. Blooming Grove is a township of about 4,000 people about 35 miles east of Scranton.
