Navy Fighter Pilot Missing After Crash

The pilot of a Navy fighter was missing Sunday after his plane plunged into the ocean, the fourth Navy jet to crash off the California coast in three months.

The twin-engine FA-18 Hornet went down Saturday while taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on a training flight.

A Navy F-14A piloted by Lt. Kara Hultgreen crashed offshore on Oct. 25 during landing approach to the Abraham Lincoln.

Hultgreen, one of the first two women to qualify for carrier operations in the F-14A, was killed. Her crewman ejected safely.

On Jan. 13, two F-14D jets operating from land collided 60 miles offshore and went down. All four crewmembers were rescued.