Two US air force pilots have been rescued after ejecting from their fighter jets over the Gulf of Mexico during a training mission, the air force says.
A spokeswoman told AP the pilots' single-seat F-15C Eagle jets disappeared on Wednesday afternoon off the Florida Panhandle, about 56km south of the US Tyndall air force base.
It is not clear if the jets crashed or collided into one another before the pilots ejected and were rescued, the spokeswoman said.
The US air force had recently returned to service many of its F-15 jets after grounding them following the crash of an F-15C fighter jet in November 2007.
In that incident, in the US state of Missouri, the pilot managed to eject safely.
However, several defects were found in some of F-15s.
Extensive search
More than 60 US coast guard personnel were involved in Wednesday's search using helicopters, ships and jets, a coast guard spokesman said.
A rescue jet located one pilot and radioed the location to a fishing vessel, which picked him up and then passed him on to a helicopter, James Harless, a coast guard petty officer, told AP.
The second pilot was found after the first told the coast guard of his approximate location.
The pilots were then taken to the Eglin base hospital. Their condition is not yet known.
The weather in the area at the time of the incident was reportedly calm, officials said.
Air force officials are investigating the incident.