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I cant' access the WP from work and felt sure someone would have posted this already.
ebris found from F-16 collision, pilot still missing
tool goes here CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Crews searching for an F-16 fighter pilot whose jet hit another fighter off the South Carolina coast have spotted debris and an oil slick in the Atlantic Ocean.
The search has been expanded for the pilot, who has been missing since the planes collided during training exercises late Thursday about 40 miles off Folly Beach.
Capt. Michael McAllister of the Coast Guard in Charleston said Friday that the search area is now about 1,300 square miles.
From the U.S. Coast Guard
Currently involved in the search are:
An HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Savannah, Ga.
The Coast Guard Cutter Yellowfin, an 87-foot patrol boat from Charleston
A Coast Guard Station Georgetown, small boat
A Coast Guard Station Charleston small boat
A C-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, Fla.
Coast Guard units have been searching throughout the night
The Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and other agencies are using boats and planes to search for Capt. Nicholas Giglio of Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter.
The other pilot landed safely at Charleston Air Force Base.
McAllister said Giglio and his ejection seat would have had beacons, but no signal has been picked up.
The two planes collided Thursday around 8:30 p.m. about 40 miles off Folly Beach, near Charleston, said Senior Master Sgt. Brad Fallin at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. Both jets, based at Shaw, are single-seat aircraft.
One jet, piloted by Capt. Lee Bryant, landed safely at Charleston Air Force Base, Fallin said. Bryant was examined at the base but had suffered no injuries and was released, Fallin said. The spokesman did not know where Bryant was early Friday.
It was cloudy and raining with 3-foot seas at the time of the crash, the Coast Guard said. There were occasional showers early Friday as the Coast Guard searched with a helicopter, a C-130 airplane, a cutter and two smaller boats.
\"It doesn't make it easier but we're still able to fly and do our jobs,\" Coast Guard Petty Officer Bobby Nash said.
The pilots' hometowns and ages were not immediately available.
Fallin said he didn't know how much damage Bryant's plane sustained. Fallin said it was being examined as part of the investigation.
Earlier this week, Shaw Air Force Base announced that pilots would be conducting nighttime exercises to allow pilots to fly with night vision equipment and practice tactics critical to surviving in combat.
The F-16 jets, dubbed Fighting Falcons, are used to protect troops on the ground or battle other aircraft in air-to-air encounters.
A unit of pilots and aviation-support specialists left Shaw last week in a four-month deployment to Afghanistan.
The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is an Air Force multi-role fighter aircraft, capable of speeds of 1,500 mph and able to fly above 50,000 feet.
The fighter, about 50 feet long with a wingspan of about 33 feet, cost from $15 million to $19 million to build.
It is the world’s most common fighter, with 4,000 in service with the U.S. andother air forces around the globe. The first F-16s were delivered in 1979 and the last were delivered to the Air Force in 2005.
-- The (Charleston) Post and Courier contributed to this report
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![[salute]](./images/smilies/smiley_salute.gif "Salute")
my they finally find him and bring him home
No Excuss
