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.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.