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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A sailor originally from Utah was missing after falling from an aircraft carrier off the east coast of Japan.
Airman Jason J. Doyle, 19, of Omaha, Neb., and previously of Sunset, Utah, fell from the USS Kitty Hawk about 4:49 p.m. Saturday.
Search and rescue efforts began immediately and are to continue until Wednesday if necessary, Navy officials said. As of Sunday night, Doyle had not been found.
Doyle's aunt, Louise Weilenmann of Salt Lake City, said the family was notified by the Navy on Saturday evening.
"Everybody has come together. We're just on standby hoping for the best," Weilenmann said.
Navy officials told the family that a person can survive in the water for about three days. Search crews will continue looking for Doyle until about Wednesday, in spite of a typhoon that was forecast to move into the area, Weilenmann said.
Doyle was assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 136, which flies EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft.
He fell into the water while the ship was conducting routine flight operations, the Navy said.
The Navy has not released information about how Doyle fell or from what height. Weilenmann said if Doyle was on duty on the flight deck, which covers 4.1 acres on the top of the ship, then he would have been wearing a life vest that inflates upon impact with the water and carries a distress beacon. If he was off duty, he would not have been wearing the vest, she said.
The Kitty Hawk, four other ships and their embarked helicopters remained in the area and continued the search, aided by shore-based U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft out of Misawa, Japan, the Navy said.
Doyle grew up in the Sunset area, attending Sunset Elementary School and then Edison Elementary and a junior high school in North Ogden before moving with his father and brother to Nebraska, where he attended high school.
Doyle has a sister, grandparents and several aunts and uncles in the Sunset and Clearfield areas, Weilenmann said.
The USS Kitty Hawk had recently been docked in Otaru, where Doyle enjoyed learning Japanese and making friends with residents, she said.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
