(October 30, 2009)

It's been more than 48 hours now since two pilots went missing while on a routine training mission from NAS Corpus Christi. There are still no signs of the plane or even an explanation as to why the T-34 trainer disappeared from radar.

The pilots went up for a two hour training mission over Aransas County. On Wednesday afternoon, the T-34 Trainer lost contact and vanished from the radar screen.

The pilots are 30-year-old Lt. Bret Miller of Wisconsin and 29-year-old Lt. Joe Houston of Houston Texas.

The Navy says it's possible they ejected from the plane and they do have survivor gear. The tT-34 Trainer has a tracking device for the plane, but it's not working for some reason.

For now, they want to find the pilots and help the families during this time.

"This is a very difficult time for both the squadron and the families," said Capt. Dave Price, who is the Training Air Wing 4 Commodore. "The base here has a very robust family support network and resources."

"There are a lot factors that goes into how long somebody can survive at sea in the water, but these are two trained military aviators and they have survival equipment with them and at this point we're focused on trying to find them," said Capt. Robert Paulison, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Commander overseeing the search. 

The U.S. Coast Guard has been searching 3,900 square miles from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor since Wednesday. The Navy reports the T-34 Trainer, a single-engine prop plane, showed no problems before disappearing from radar.

During the search effort, there have been no signs of the plane or the pilots.

The Navy is still calling this a search and rescue effort. The focus is to find the missing plane and the pilots.