Air Force: Missing Pilot Likely Died Instantly

An Air Force pilot likely died instantly when his F-16 fighter jet collided with another over the Atlantic Ocean, authorities said Saturday.

A photo provided by the US Coast Guard shows Seaman Zachary Evans looking for Air Force Capt....

A photo provided by the US Coast Guard shows Seaman Zachary Evans looking for Air Force Capt. Nicholas Giglio of the 20th Fighter Wing of Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., with long-range binoculars aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bear, Friday Oct. 16, 2009. Giglio was involved in a mid-air collision between two F-16 aircraft from Shaw Air Force Base Thursday evening approximately 30 miles northeast of Charleston. (AP Photo/ U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Volves)

(AP)

The search for Capt. Nicholas Giglio, who has been missing since Thursday night's crash, was shifted to a recovery effort looking for the plane's wreckage.

Investigators believe the bottom of the other jet struck the top of Giglio's fighter and pierced the pilot's canopy, Air Force Col. Joe Guastella said. The other pilot was not injured and was able to land his plane safely.

Investigators came to their conclusion using data gathered from the second plane and an interview with the other pilot. Also, radio beacons on the aircraft and the pilot were never activated, indicating Giglio never left the cockpit, Guastella said.

"He had no opportunity to eject from the aircraft," Guastella said.

The Coast Guard, which spent nearly two days looking for the pilot in 8,000 square miles of ocean about 40 nautical miles northeast of Charleston, has now shifted to trying to recover the jet, said Capt. Michael McAllister, director for the search.

The collision happened as Giglio and the second pilot, Capt. Lee Bryant, were in a night training exercise. The pilots had finished most of their maneuvers and were getting ready to head home when they hit, Guastella said.

The flight controls of Bryant's jet were miraculously not damaged, and he managed to land at Charleston Air Force Base without injury, Guastella said.

The two pilots were part of Shaw Air Force Base's 20th Fighter Wing commanded by Guastella. Giglio, originally from New Jersey, has been a fighter pilot for 18 months and is part of the 77th Fighter Squadron that is training for deployment to Iraq early next year. He took his first F-16 flight with Guastella, who was an instructor then.

"He is a patriot and a great American," said Guastella, who told Giglio's family about the investigators' findings a few hours before the public announcement.