Navy Sabreliners Crash Off Florida Coast

Seven crewmembers are presumed dead after a flight of two U.S. Navy T-39 Sabreliners crashed in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle last month. Navy officials said the two jets (military versions of the Sabreliner 40) were on a routine training flight from Pensacola Naval Air Station when they disappeared from radar about 40 mi south of Pensacola in the Gulf, with three people aboard one airplane and four on the other. Debris was found floating in the water. It was unclear whether the twinjets collided or if either had made distress calls. The military, not the NTSB, will be in charge of the accident investigation.