F-15 crash south of PC

[TreeFrog]

Reuters reports that two F-15s based at Eglin collided this afternoon over the Gulf south of PC. The Coast Guard has recovered one pilot, condition unknown, but the other was still missing at the time of the report. Here's hoping for the best.

 

[jodiFL]

Pilots Rescued After Fighter Jets Vanish
By MELISSA NELSON (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 20, 2008 6:49 PM EST

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Two fighter jets went missing during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, but the pilots were later rescued, the Air Force said.

Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Shirley Pigott said the pilots were rescued after their single-seat F-15C Eagles disappeared Wednesday afternoon off the Florida Panhandle, about 35 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base.

The Air Force has not determined if the planes collided or why they might have crashed. Weather in the area was clear.

More than 60 Coast Guard personnel had been involved in the search using multiple helicopters, cutters and jets, said Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless. Air Force officials are investigating.

The Air Force grounded all of its F-15s - nearly 700 - after the catastrophic failure of an F-15C during a routine training flight in Missouri in November. The pilot safely ejected.

Most were back in service by January, but others were grounded indefinitely after defects were found.

The Air Force began using the F-15C in 1979. The planes, built by McDonnell Douglas Corp., were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm and have since been used in Iraq, Turkey and Bosnia.

The planes can fly up to 65,000 feet and each costs about $30 million, according to the Air Force.

Seems they found both pilots but no reason for the crash yet.

 

[TreeFrog]

Update - The FW Daily News reports both pilots survived.



Edit to update - Looks like Jodi was posting the News article while I was reading it.

 

[nicdeedoop]

BREAKING NEWS updated 25 minutes ago
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - One of the two pilots rescued from the Gulf of Mexico after their fighter jets crashed Wednesday has died, the Air Force said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23262052/