Authorities have identified a South Carolina father and son as the Cessna-150 passengers who died in a midair collision with an F-16 on Tuesday.
Joseph Johnson, 30, was piloting the Cessna, and his father, Michael Johnson, 68, was his passenger, according to Bill Salisbury, coroner for Berkeley County, South Carolina, where the collision took place.
Both men were killed when their plane collided with an F-16C from Shaw Air Force Base. The Air Force pilot from Shaw's 55th Fighter Squadron, Maj. Aaron Johnson, apparently no relation to the two victims, ejected safely and was taken to Joint Base Charleston for a health assessment.
The body of Michael Johnson was recovered Wednesday morning in the Cooper River near the collision site by a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources search and rescue boat, Salisbury said.
Authorities are still searching for the body of Joseph Johnson, though his wallet was found Tuesday.
"We are still actively searching for one body, we recovered one this morning," Salisbury told reporters during a Wednesday news conference.
The two victims are believed to be residents of Moncks Corner — where the crash occurred — an area about 11 miles north of Charleston.
A representative for the National Transportation Safety Board said the investigation is focusing on two main crash sites: the Cessna wreckage in the Cooper River and the F-16 wreckage about 10 miles away in a wooded area.
Officials are asking local residents to stay away from Lewisfield Plantation, a historic mansion close to where the collision took place. Anyone who spots wreckage is asked to notify local authorities.
The Cessna took off from the local Berkeley County airport and was traveling to Myrtle Beach when the collision occurred, Salisbury said.
Col. Stephen Jost, commander of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw, said the F-16 pilot was conducting a routine instrument training mission on approach to Joint Base Charleston.
Authorities said it appears both planes were in radio communication with air traffic control towers at the time of the collision.
The Cessna was not equipped with a flight or voice "black box" recorder, the NTSB representative said. But officials hope there may be other electronic devices that will provide some clue as to the flight path and cabin activity right before the crash.
The F-16 was equipped with a flight recorder, and authorities said they will review that data, as well as the two planes' communications with traffic controllers, weather records, radar reports, and eye witness accounts.
The NTSB expects to publish a preliminary report into the cause of the accident within five to 10 days. Until then, officials said they will not speculate as to the cause of the collision.
Brian Everstine contributed to this story.