The Ministry of Defence is said to be making an assessment on whether to resume the search for two airmen missing in the Moray Firth in Scotland after two RAF Tornado jets crashed.

Operations were suspended on Tuesday evening after the jets are understood to have collided. The Tornado GR4s, which each have a crew of two, were from RAF Lossiemouth, in the north east of Scotland.

Two of the four air crew were airlifted to hospital in Inverness but no further details about their condition could be known.Visibility was said to be poor in the area. Police and the Coastguard have been patrolling shorelines and members of the public have been asked to report any debris.

Aberdeen Coastguard was tipped off regarding the incident at about 13:50 BST on Tuesday, after reports that the jets came down about 25 miles south of Wick. The RNLI said 15 volunteers manned the Wick, Invergordon and Buckie lifeboats, which were used to search for the missing personnel.

The boats headed for the Beatrice oil field area, supported by a helicopter from Stornoway in the Western Isles.Wreckage from one of the aircraft was collected from the water and transported back to shore on lifeboat Buckie. The whereabouts of the second aircraft is not yet known.

“The circumstances remain uncertain, but clearly this is a very serious incident. The thoughts from everyone here are with the families and friends of those involved”, Lossiemouth station commander Group Captain Ian Gale, said.

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