LANDIVISIAU, France, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - A French navy pilot who went missing after two fighter jets collided was presumed dead, maritime officials said Thursday as they called off a search off the coast of Brittany.

'There is no hope of finding this pilot alive,' said Bertrand Hudault, spokesman for the maritime authority, adding that the pilot's chances of survival in the icy Atlantic waters were nil.

Rescuers found the other pilot who ejected safely after the two Super Etendard jets collided Wednesday evening during a training exercise.

Two helicopters, a spotter plane and two boats were mobilised in the rescue effort in the Bay of Lannion in France's northwestern Brittany region.

The jets crashed on Wednesday during a training exercise involving four planes from the Landivisiau air base.

A naval vessel arrived in the zone overnight and was to launch a small remote-controlled submarine to locate the wreckage of the two fighters.