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.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.