Search teams have recovered the body of a second American pilot missing after two F-18 Marine Corps planes disappeared over Iraq earlier this week, a U.S. statement said on Wednesday. The planes had flown from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson when controllers lost contact with them on Monday night, Reuters reported. There was no indication of hostile fire at the time contact with the planes was lost, officials said. A heavy sandstorm and lightning hit central Iraq on Monday night. In Washington, a defense official said on Tuesday they suspected the two fighters collided in mid-air at 30,000 feet (9,144 metres), but no final conclusion had been reached.
