Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Navy Searching for 2 Pilots in Crash

The Navy searched waters off Puerto Rico for two pilots whose plane crashed during a routine exercise. Both men were presumed dead. The S-3 Viking plane piloted by Lts. Thomas P. Wilcox III and Donald R. Cioffi crashed shortly after takeoff from the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis on Friday night, naval officials said. The Stennis, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, is on a seven-week training exercise in the Caribbean with a crew of 4,500. The S-3 Viking was on an in-flight refueling mission. Wilcox, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Cioffi, of Freehold, N.J., both 30, were the only pilots aboard.