美國海軍12日表示，第17海軍航空隊（CVW-17）2架F/A-18「大黃蜂」戰機，當地時間下午5時40分在西太平洋墜落，其中一名飛行員已被救回醫治，另一人則仍在搜尋中，失事的兩架戰機也尚未尋獲。

兩架失事戰機分屬第94戰機中隊（VFA-94）和第113戰機中隊（VFA-113），並從航空母艦「卡爾文森號」起飛執行任務。一名飛行員在墜海後立即被定位找到，現已返回艦上治療，軍方亦動員搜尋另名落海飛行員。

關於戰機失事墜落原因，目前已在調查中。美國海軍亦稱，「卡爾文森號」及第17海軍航空隊正在第七艦隊執勤範圍內，負責印度洋-亞洲-太平洋海域的安全與穩定。

LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Two U.S. Navy jets crashed into the western Pacific Ocean on Friday and only one pilot was immediately rescued, military officials said. A night search for the missing pilot was underway.

The F/A-18C Hornet fighter jets were from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California's San Joaquin Valley. The air wing is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

The crash occurred at 5:40 p.m. local time about 290 miles west of Wake Island, Navy Cmdr. Jeannie Groeneveld said from San Diego. Wake Island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.

Groeneveld said she couldn't release details of the crash, but an investigation already had started.

The rescued pilot was in fair condition in the medical department of the Carl Vinson, she said.

All other aircraft that were airborne at the time safely returned to the ship.

The search for the missing pilot involved the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley, the USS Sperett, the USS Dewey and two helicopter squadrons.

The jets involved in the crash were from Strike Fighter Squadron 94 and Strike Fighter Squadron 113.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved," Groeneveld said.

The Carl Vinson strike group team departed San Diego on Aug. 22 for what was announced as a 9 1/2-month deployment.

The F/A-18C is a twin-engine, single-seat strike fighter, designed to function both as a fighter — in roles such as engaging enemy aircraft — and as an attack aircraft, bombing ground targets for example. Fifty-six feet long and with a wingspan of 40½ feet, Hornet C models have been deployed since the late 1980s.

Built by prime contractor McDonnell Douglas, the jets are capable of flying at speeds greater than Mach 1.7 and altitudes of more than 50,000 feet, according to the Navy.

An F/A-18E Super Hornet, a larger and more recent variant, crashed in June as it prepared to land on the Carl Vinson off the Southern California coast. The pilot was able to eject safely.

That crash happened just hours after a Harrier AV-8B fighter jet crashed into a Southern California neighborhood, destroying two homes and badly damaging a third. No one was seriously hurt.

About a month earlier, a Marine Corps Harrier jet had crashed on tribal land south of Phoenix, but the pilot was able to safely eject. And on March 1, Marine Capt. Reid Nannen was killed in a fighter jet crash during a training exercise in Nevada.

    空軍一架幻象2000戰機今天失事墜海，幸好兩名飛行員跳傘獲救，這是新竹聯隊繼2001年後再發生戰機墜海意外，當時軍方犧牲2名飛行員，事後空軍改善飛行員的求生裝備，雖然每套救生衣包含各式求生器材的要價高達40萬新台幣，不過終於在關鍵時刻發揮功能，救回無價的人命。

    空軍新竹499聯隊一架編號2052幻象2000戰機失事，幸好兩名飛行員順利跳傘獲救，這是國軍從1997年換裝幻象戰機以來，在國內發生的第4起失事案件。空軍上一起幻象戰機在國內失事發生在2001年11月，兩名飛行員其中一人因救生衣未充氣而失蹤，另一人雖順利救回卻因長時間失溫而不幸罹難。

    事後空軍痛定思痛，替幻象飛行員添購防水防寒飛行衣，並為救生衣加裝遇水自動充氣裝置。直到今天，只要海水溫度低於標準，飛行員就會穿著防寒衣飛行。

    不過要替台灣特有的Type35型救生衣加裝自動充氣裝置就遇到麻煩，主因是法國空軍原本也沒有這項裝備，法方廠商為台灣加裝這個裝置，每一件救生衣的報價高達20萬新台幣，加上原有的無線電、信號彈等求生器材，每套裝備總計上看40萬元。而且這種遇水感應自動充氣的裝置只能使用一次，萬一使用者誤觸啟動，就還得再花20萬更換另一組，為此，空軍還嚴令飛行員多加注意避免「走火」，甚至推出多項預防規定。

    據了解，499聯隊近期還為救生衣換裝法國原裝的新型信號彈，在這次事件中也有發揮功效。至於其他使用美系戰機的單位，雖然也早已換裝具有自動充氣功能的救生衣，但始終沒有採用預防落水失溫的防寒飛行衣。