SOUTHLAND : Navy Jets Collide Over Mojave

Two Navy F/A-18 fighter jets crashed in the Mojave Desert after apparently colliding today and at least one of the two pilots parachuted to safety, defense officials said. There was no immediate word on the fate of the other pilot.

The single-seat, twin-engine jets were based at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, according to Loretta King, a spokeswoman at the China Lake, Calif., naval weapons test center. The planes, assigned to a Navy squadron that tests and evaluates missiles and other weapons, were flying in an area used for such testing when the incident occurred shortly before noon.