Four rescued after two Navy jets collide during training mission off North Carolina coast

reporting from RALEIGH, N.C. — Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending four people to the hospital, officials said.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, Va., collided about 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., said Navy spokesman Ensign Mark Rockwellpate. Four crew members were taken to a hospital in Norfolk, Va,. but Rockwellpate said he didn’t have information about the extent of their injuries.

An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the accident, he said.

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The four survivors were plucked off a commercial fishing ship that pulled them out of the Atlantic Ocean. They were flown by Coast Guard helicopter to a hospital in Norfolk, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Joshua Canup.

The helicopter was dispatched from the Coast Guard’s air station in Elizabeth City, N.C. The station’s helicopters perform ocean search-and-rescue operations off North Carolina and Virginia as far east as Bermuda.

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UPDATES:

10:47 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information throughout.

This article was originally posted at 9:51 a.m.