2 Marine Aviators Killed in Dogfight Training Collision
The bodies of two aviators based at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station have been recovered from the wreckage of an F/A-18D Hornet that collided with another jet over the Arizona desert, a base spokesman said Tuesday.
Capt. Bret O. Hines, the pilot, and Maj. Nicholas Ferencz III, the weapons systems officer, were killed during training exercises Monday that involved aerial combat maneuvers and dogfights with at least seven other aircraft east of Yuma, Ariz.
Hines, 27, of Richmond, Va., had been in the military for five years and Ferencz, 36, of Cleveland, had seven years in the service.
The other Hornet, from the same squadron, landed safely with relatively minor damage, said base spokesman Maj. Stephen Kay. Neither the pilot nor the weapons systems officer was injured.
Neither plane carried live munitions, the Marines said.
There was no early indication of what caused the collision, and an investigation was underway.
“Dogfighting entails a certain amount of risk. In this case, something obviously went wrong,” Kay said.
It was not clear if the two men who were killed attempted to eject.
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