THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409170336
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
The Coast Guard and the Navy suspended their search late Friday afternoon for two aviators from Oceana Naval Air Station who have been missing since a midair collision off the North Carolina coast Wednesday night.
The search was called off at 5 p.m., said Petty Officer Michael Davis of the Coast Guard's 5th District command center in Portsmouth.
The Coast Guard had been using a C-130 and an HH-60 helicopter, both from the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Air Station, to search for the aviators, Davis said.
The collision of two F-14 Tomcats about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday sent one plunging into the ocean and forced the other to make an emergency landing.
The jets collided about 40 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras during training exercises involving the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower battle group.
Missing are the pilot of the downed plane, Lt. Kark S. Belczyk, 32, of Collingdale, Pa., and the radar intercept officer, Lt. j.g. Marcus Pletcher, 25, of Chelsea, Mich.
Both men are single and live Virginia Beach. They are members of Fighter Squadron 32, the Swordsmen.
Because the Eisenhower had departed for Haiti, the F-14s involved in the crash were operating from Oceana, said a Navy spokesman.
The accident was the second in four weeks in which an F-14 from Oceana crashed during a training mission. On Aug. 26 a Tomcat went down in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound.
The two crewmen safely ejected about 27 miles northeast of Cherry Point.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE U.S. NAVY LOST AT SEA by CNB