By
The Associated Press
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - The Marine Corps recovered the bodies of two aviators from the wreckage of an F/A-18D Hornet that collided with another jet over the Arizona desert, a base spokesman said yesterday.
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, Ohio, 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 under way.
"Dogfighting entails a certain amount of risk. In this case, something obviously went wrong," Kay said.
It was not yet clear if the Marines attempted to eject or if other Marines in the exercises witnessed the accident.
The Hornet crash was reported about 4:30 p.m. Mountain time on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, east of Yuma.
Both aircraft were from Miramar's All-Weather Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242.
