2 Pilots Die in Nevada Crash of Jet Fighters

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — A pair of F-16 fighter jets participating in a training exercise crashed in the Nevada desert Friday, killing the pilots of both warplanes, an Air Force spokesman said.

The two single-seat fighter jets, assigned to the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, crashed shortly before noon about 70 miles north of the base on a remote gunnery range.

Cause of the crashes was under investigation and it was not immediately known whether the aircraft had collided, the military spokesman said.

Maj. Michael J. Lotti, 42, an instructor pilot assigned to the Air Force Fighters Weapons School at Nellis, was identified as one of the dead. He was a native of Fresno.

The Air Force was withholding the name of the other pilot until relatives could be notified.

It was unknown whether the planes collided in flight, whether they were flying in formation or going through aggressor maneuvers or whether other military aircraft were in the area at the time, the spokesman said.