Navy pilots survive midair collision over Nevada 6.54 p.m. ET (2308 GMT) October 28, 2000 By Martin Griffith, Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) B Two Navy jets collided during a training mission, forcing one pilot to eject and parachute to the ground. Both pilots escaped serious injury.

The two F/A-18 Hornets hit Friday night over the desert about 115 miles east of Reno and 55 miles east of Fallon Naval Air Station.

One plane crashed after its pilot, Lt. Cam Hansen, ejected. The other pilot, Lt. Joe Krasinski, was able to land even though three feet off his aircraft's right wing had been sheared off and the plane's fuselage, vertical stabilizers and horizontal flaps were damaged, Fallon spokeswoman Anne McMillin said.

Both pilots were treated for minor injuries at the base's medical clinic and released. They are assigned to units at the Oceana, Va., Naval Air Station but are at Fallon as part of regular training.

"It's very, very fortunate that both these gentlemen survived that incident. Another couple of inches and this could have been much worse,'' McMillin said.

The crash and other recent crashes involving the military's Hornet jets are under investigation.

A week ago, an F/A-18C Hornet crashed in the ocean off San Diego during training from an aircraft carrier. Debris from the plane was found, but the pilot, identified as Lt. Daren Jewell, 26, of Oak Harbor, Wash., was presumed dead.

In September, a Navy pilot was killed when his F/A-18C Hornet crashed in the Persian Gulf, and two Marine Corps. aviators died after their F/A-18D Hornet hit another over the Arizona desert.

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-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), October 28, 2000