Two pilots and two weapons systems officers are being treated after two F/A-18F Super Hornets collided off the coast of North Carolina on Thursday morning. The two jets, assigned to NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., collided during a routine training flight near Cape Hatteras, N.C., at 10:40 a.m., Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said during a Thursday briefing. The aircrew was alert and talking when they were picked up. Three Coast Guard helicopters, along with a Coast Guard C-130, the USS Mesa Verde, and “good Samaritans” in private boats helped recover the aircrew, Cook said. A safety investigation has begun to determine the cause of the crash.
Members of Congress from both parties expressed frustration and dismay over the abrupt and still-unexplained firing last month of Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh from his dual role as head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency.