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U.S. Navy Identifies Three Sailors Missing After Crash

Search and rescue operations were called off earlier this week.

The U.S. Navy on Saturday identified three sailors who went missing after their aircraft crashed into the Philippine Sea as Lt. Steven Combs, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Airman Matthew Chialastri, and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Bryan Grosso. Both Combs and Grosso were from Florida, while Chialastri was a Louisiana native. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these Sailors,” a statement from Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander of U.S. Seventh Fleet, said. “Their service and sacrifice will be lasting in Seventh Fleet and we will continue to stand the watch for them, as they did bravely for all of us,” Sawyer said. The Navy called off its search-and-rescue mission for the sailors on Thursday. They were among 11 passengers on board a C2-A Greyhound transport plane when it crashed into the ocean near Okinawa on Wednesday. Eight other people on board the plane were rescued. An investigation has been opened into the cause of the crash.