WASHINGTON — Rescue teams from the US Coast Guard and Navy were searching Friday for a pilot who went missing after two F-16 fighter jets collided off South Carolina's coast, the Air Force said.
"As of right now the search is still going on. We haven't found him yet," spokesman Michael Cowley told AFP early Friday.
"The pilot of the missing F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the 20th Fighter Wing here has been identified as Captain Nicholas Giglio," a statement from Shaw Air Force Base said.
"His fighter apparently collided with another Shaw F-16 in mid-air over the Atlantic Ocean around 8:30 pm Thursday (0030 GMT Friday), about 40 miles east of Folly Beach."
The pilot of the other aircraft, Captain Lee Bryant, was able to fly his F-16 back to Charleston Air Force Base, Cowley told AFP.
"The pilot is being evaluated by a medical team. We can let you know that he was unharmed," he said.
No details about the condition of Bryant's jet were available.
The US Coast Guard deployed two sea vessels and a helicopter to try and locate Giglio and his jet.
A board of officers was set to investigate the incident.
The accident occurred as the single-pilot fighters were conducting a night training maneuvers over the Atlantic.
The jets involved in the collision are stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, where pilots routinely practice with night-vision equipment as part of their combat training.
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