San Diego

Two Navy pilots were treated for injuries Wednesday at Balboa Naval hospital after a Navy twin-engine jet they were flying crashed about 30 miles east of San Clemente Island, a Navy spokesman said. Lt. James Smarjesse, 25, the pilot, and Lt. John Persyn, 30, the co-pilot, were picked up about 2:30 p.m. by a Coast Guard helicopter after they were forced to eject from the S-3 Viking aircraft, said Ken Mitchell, public affairs officer for the North Island Naval Air Station. The men, both San Diego residents, were kept overnight for observation, Mitchell said. The anti-submarine warfare jet was on a routine training mission when it went down, he said. The aircraft could not be recovered. The cause of the crash is being investigated by the Navy.