CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : DEATH VALLEY JUNCTION : Air Guard Jet Fighter Crashes

A California Air National Guard jet fighter with two crew members aboard crashed and burned in the Mojave desert near Death Valley. Identities and conditions of the pilot and weapons system operator were not immediately available and the cause of the crash was not known, National Guard officials said. A search and rescue party was flown to the area by helicopter from China Lake Naval Weapons Center and an accident investigation team was dispatched from Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. The F-4E Phantom 2 was on a training mission for the 163rd Tactical Fighter Group at March Air Force Base when it went down near California 127 in Inyo County, just east of Death Valley National Monument, officials said.