Navy officials Wednesday declared Airman Jason J. Doyle, originally from Utah, as lost at sea and presumed dead.
Doyle, 19, fell from the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk on July 8, at around 4:49 p.m. He was on duty at the time, Navy Lt. Cmdr. John Bernard said in an e-mail response to questions.
Doyle fell during routine flight operations in the Philippine Sea off the east coast of Japan.
A Navy press release stated Doyle was born in Layton. He was listed as a resident of Omaha, Neb., while serving overseas. The Associated Press reported this week that Doyle still has relatives in Utah.
The search for Doyle ended at midnight Tuesday, after crews covered more than 2,400 square miles continuously for nearly 80 hours. Six Navy ships and a ship from the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force were part of the search effort.
The search concluded after "efforts failed to locate him and exceeded any reasonable expectation that he would be found alive," the Navy said in its release.
The Navy is continuing its investigation into the incident, which could fall into one of three categories: foul play, suicide, or safety in the case of an accident. So far, Navy officials have not said how or why Doyle fell from the ship.
The USS Kitty Hawk, the Navy's oldest active warship, was commissioned in 1961 at a cost of $265.2 million. Also known as the "Battle Cat," the aircraft carrier's total height above the waterline is 201 feet and the flight deck area covers 4.1 acres. It is equipped with four 21-foot-wide propellers.
It's anticipated that the USS Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned in 2008, according to the Web site www.kittyhawk.navy.mil.
Most or all of the Navy's active carriers are supposed to have safety nets around the perimeter, according to Navy spokeswoman Lt. Sonja Hanson. It was unclear Wednesday whether any net was a factor in Doyle's fall.
Hanson was asked how often sailors fall from Navy ships.
"I wouldn't want to guess or speculate on a number," she said. "It certainly happens, as you know."
A Navy official at the Pentagon said Wednesday that since October 1999, the Navy has declared 41 "souls" as lost at sea — their bodies were not recovered.
On Dec. 18, 2005, a sailor fell off of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier at 2:15 a.m. as the ship conducted security operations in the Arabian, Gulf. A helicopter returned the sailor in good condition to his ship at 3:10 a.m., according to the Navy.
Sailors who are on duty are supposed to wear a life vest that inflates upon impact with the water. That vest is also supposed to have a locator beacon.
It's not known whether Doyle was wearing such a vest, or, if he was, whether the vest and beacon were working properly.
Doyle was assigned to the Navy's Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136, which will hold a memorial service aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.
Doyle was a 2005 graduate of Papillion-La Vista South High School in Nebraska and enlisted in the Navy shortly after graduation, according to a story in the Papillion Times. He was involved in the Naval Junior ROTC program during his junior and senior years.