(planes looked totally "out of control" an observer said)

-----

Tuesday March 27 1:23 PM ET
Body Found in British Search for U.S. Warplanes

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - Rescue teams looking for two missing U.S. airmen and their F-15C fighters in the Scottish Highlands Tuesday found a body and wreckage from one plane before the search was called off until first light Wednesday.

The planes went missing Monday on a low-flying training mission over Scotland, but the rescue effort has been hampered by strong winds, freezing temperatures and heavy snow.

``The rescuers started to come down from the hills a short while ago,'' said a spokesman for Royal Air Force search and rescue. ``They have been working in very bad conditions, walking through waste-high snow and blizzards.''

The body, believed to be one of the pilots, has yet to be formally identified. It was found attached to a parachute and was located by rescuers who picked up the scent of fuel.

The U.S. Air Force named the missing airmen as Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Hyvonen from the 48th Operations Support Squadron and Captain Kirk Jones of the 493rd Fighter Squadron.

Both were based at Lakenheath in England which is used by the U.S. Air Force.

The search involving RAF Nimrod aircraft, military helicopters and up to 250 RAF, police and civilian rescue teams resumed at first light Tuesday.

The disappearance coincided with the loss of a third U.S. plane, an army RC-12, which crashed near the southern German town of Nuremberg Monday, killing two pilots.

Fighters May Have Touched Mid-Air

Michael Mulford of the RAF refused to speculate on reports that the fighters had crashed in Scotland's Cairngorms mountain range after touching in mid-air.

``There is nothing at the moment to support that theory,'' he said, adding that an investigation would look into the disappearance of the combat aircraft which have ruled the skies for the last 30 years with their powerful engines, outstanding maneuverability and excellent radar.

The single-seat F-15C aircraft were on a low-flying training mission when radio contact was lost at about 1:15 p.m. Monday.

A member of the public reported hearing an explosion in the mountainous area at about the same time.

Fred Lawson, who was driving through the area with his wife Susan, told the BBC he saw the two planes.

``This jet came straight at us. I said to my wife, 'this is extraordinary, it looks totally out of control', whereupon it veered way up into the sky, turned left, and went north toward Ben Macdui into a heavy snow storm,'' Lawson said.

``A second one came following it looking as if it was under control.''

Lawson said the planes were flying ``extremely low'' at a height of about 650 feet.

U.S. President George W. Bush asked 10,000 people during a speech in Billings, Montana, to join him in a silent prayer for the servicemen involved in the British and German incidents.

The U.S. military named the two pilots killed in southern Germany as Chief Warrant Officer George Graves, 44, and Chief Warrant Officer Lance Hill, 43, of the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion based at Wiesbaden.

-----