Memorial Service Held for Navy Air Crash Victims : Military: Families and friends gather at Moffett Field to remember 27 crewmen killed in collision.

Hundreds of friends, relatives and sailors gathered at Moffett Field on Thursday to pay their final respects to 27 crewmen based at the naval air station who were killed when two Navy planes collided over the ocean near San Diego last week.

As a host of officers read testimonials to the dead, a black and white sea of sailors stretched out before them. Hundreds of family members and friends sat in front of a giant American flag, billowing in the breeze at half-staff. A few mothers and wives wept quietly during the service.

“We gather here to celebrate and to give thanks for the lives of the 27 young men who died,” said Capt. Edward K. Murray, the base chaplain. “Each of us is lost in our own lives and feelings. Each of us mourns, each of us feels the terrible emptiness in our hearts.”

Navy officials are still conducting an investigation into what caused two P-3 Orion turboprop patrol planes to collide in midair a week ago Thursday over the water south of San Diego. No survivors were found.

All of the men killed in the crash were stationed at Moffett. Most of them also belonged to the same outfit, Patrol Squadron 50. Colleagues of the dead men said the accident has left the small naval community here in anguish.

“It’s a somber mood,” said one P-3 pilot who did not want his named used. “We all go through these things. We search for reasons why it happened. It’s such a safe airplane, yet it’s so crushing to have this happen.”

The hourlong service, which was attended by Adm. Frank Kelso, chief of naval operations, began with two Bible readings and the singing of “Amazing Grace.” Murray then urged the audience members to “celebrate the God of hope during this season of Easter and Passover.”

Cmdr. John M. Miller, the officer in charge of Patrol Squadron 50, offered words of tribute for each of the men killed last week. Saying that “they represented the pride and fiber of our nation,” he offered a few personal details about each of the men who died.

The service ended when a 21-gun salute rang out, two P-3 planes flew by, and the families of the deceased were handed neatly folded American flags.