Two F-15 fighter jets are reported missing in the Gulf of Mexico

[DemoTex]

Source: CNN

CNN affiliates report. U.S. Coast Guard searching.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/?refresh=1

---

UPDATE:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/jetcrash/index.html

[Bonobo]

1. One is a bad accident. What the fuck is two!?

[Adsos Letter]

6. a collision, most likely...

[TomInTib]

8. "Two" is usually a mid-air.

Damn.

[Squatch]

18. Two is $60,000,000

[George II]

21. Watch the news.....

[Xipe Totec]

39. Not helpful n/t

[George II]

40. Well, might have been more helpful if you weren't so damned obscene!!

[Xipe Totec]

41. Make sure to check who you've responded to next time

You don't want to burn bridges this early in the game.

[Extend a Hand]

2. I don't see the article?

[Nailzberg]

5. I didn't see it on CNN, but here's another report

http://www.nbc15online.com/news/custom/breaking%20news/story.aspx?content_id=ad9d47f8-f5be-4836-a0d3-fcd436419921

(MOBILE, Ala.) Feb. 20 -- The U.S. Coast Guard in Mobile says it is actively searching Gulf waters for two F-15 Fighter Jets reported missing from Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.

NBC15 News has been told the search was launched after the jets apparently lost radio contact with the tower at Eglin.

The search is being conducted about 30 miles south of Panama City in the Gulf of Mexico. Jets and helicopters have already been dispatched to the area by the Coast Guard and ships are also on the way.

[Lex1775]

3. Bet it was a mid-air collision during ACM.

[mak3cats]

4. Link from CNN...

http://www.nbc15online.com/news/custom/breaking%20news/story.aspx?content_id=ad9d47f8-f5be-4836-a0d3-fcd436419921

[mr_hat]

7. And all the worn-out, dangerous F-15s are already grounded.

Better rush that request for additional F-22s through.

[psychopomp]

24. The F-16 is still getting the job done

[TroglodyteScholar]

42. Actually, all but 9 of the grounded jets were cleared to fly last Friday. n/t

[jobendorfer]

9. one unpleasant possibility ...

One unpleasant possibility is that the two missing aircraft collided, and both went down.
Whatever happened, let's just hope the pilots are okay.

J.

[CoffeeCat]

10. Let's just hope that one of them..

...didn't contain that missing nuclear warhead that flew
over the United States several months ago.

Remember that? The biggest story of the last three years
that slipped into the ether.

[Deny and Shred]

13. I heard about it. Do you know of a site, or link explaining?

[The Croquist]

19. The nuclear warhead you are talking about was inside a B-52 and wouldn't fit on a F-15.

It was also found within a few hours of being lost. It never left USAF custody.

That's not to say we've never lost one. We lost one off Tybee Island near Savannah Georgia in 1958. Supposedly we've never found it. So if you're got a medal detector and some saved up vacation, have at it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tybee_Bomb

Then there was the time, also in 1958, they accidentally dropped an unarmed bomb on Mars Bluff South Carolina. All in all I suspect 1958 was a bad year for SAC (Strategic Air Command).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Bluff

Did I mention about the time in 1966 when we dropped 4 bombs on Spain? Hey, mistakes happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomares_hydrogen_bombs_incident

The fact that none of these things exploded is both a tribute to the USAF and UNBELIEVABLE LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thothmes]

38. The 4 bombs dropped on Spain

were the result of a mid air collision between the B-52 carrying the bombs and a refueling tanker. All crewmen were killed.

[Nailzberg]

11. CNN.com now confirming collision.

S&R ops underway.

F15C's out of Eglin AFB

[angrycarpenter]

12. There has been a lot of training going on lately

I live nearby and sonic booms coming in from the gulf is a constant annoyance. Sometimes the whole house shakes. I would say that they have at least doubled in the last couple of months.

[Nailzberg]

15. Perhaps Eagle pilots need to catch up their hours since the groundings?

That would be my guess for the increase you're experiencing.
:shrug:

[The Croquist]

32. I wonder if you're seeing mostly navy training.

Pensacola is a huge navy air training base. I suspect (I'm winging it) that most of your traffic is navy and that it varies with scheduled carrier deployments.

I was at the museum last spring and I highly recommend it. No matter how you feel about our foreign policy it is a tribute to the men and women that have served in our armed forces.

They had a SBD-2 Dauntless that had an amazing history. It was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In March it was flying from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington and bombed Japanese held Islands. When the Lexington returned to Pearl Harbor it was off loaded and sent to Midway Island. In June 1941 it attacked the Japanese fleet in the greatest victory in US navy history. The Lexington wasn't there. By then it was at the bottom of the Coral Sea. The plane was badly damaged but managed to make it home. It was one of eight of the planes that survived the attack. Eight planes (16 men) were lost.

It ended up as a training plane taking off and landing on paddle wheel aircraft carriers on Lake Michigan where it sunk during a training accident (The pilot survived).


http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/pages/doncoms/Display.php?irn=16028043&QueryPage=%2FDtlQuery.php

[angrycarpenter]

35. Tyndall Air Force base is nearby.

Most of the traffic is from there. They said that they were searching thirty miles south of Panama city. That puts the crash just 20 miles offshore of Tyndall and about 50 miles west-north-west of my location.

[The Croquist]

46. My bad

I sit corrected.

[Beausoleil]

47. No F-15s in USN n/t

[angrycarpenter]

14. About 3 or 4 years ago....

A pilot in the same area ejected from his plane which had become unresponsive. The F15 continued to fly unmanned. It came towards land and flew directly over 7 miles of st. george island. A thickly developed barrier island. it then ran out of fuel and crashed straight down nose first into a mud flat surrounded by houses. It is still there buried an estimated 70 feet down.

It flew directly over the house I was working on.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Freaky!

[Myrina]

17. ... headed towards Cuba perhaps?

:tinfoilhat:

[RL3AO]

20. Probably practicing dog fight simulations

hopefully everyone is alive.

[DemoTex]

22. September 1970 .. offshore fishing south of Destin (Eglin, AFB). Shoot-down!

Several of us (all military pilots) had hired a sport fisherman with crew for some full-day bait-dragging in the Gulf of Mexico as we enjoyed our 30-day leave before shipping out for Viet Nam. We were way out of sight of land, but in the thick of the Destin fishing fleet, with everybody snagging fish (bonita, kings, Spanish, etc). The weather was perfect and the beer was ice cold.

At about 15:00 (3pm) I heard what sounded like a muted back-fire. Shortly, the skipper yelled "LOOK!" from the flying bridge, and pointed skyward.

We all looked up and saw a jet, on fire, spinning through about 10,000 feet. We held our collective breath, hoping to spot a chute or two. No chutes. The weird-looking jet impacted very close to a large party boat (anchored .. bottom fishing) and exploded in a fireball on the water. I though I was going to puke. We later found out that the impact was so close to the party boat that the boat's hull paint was blistered.

Shortly, our skipper yelled "LOOK!", and pointed, again. Two F-4 Phantom fighter jets came over at about 100 feet, checking out the situation.

Meanwhile, our skipper was on the marine band radio reporting the incident. The fire on the surface of the water burned out very quickly.

We told the skipper we were finished fishing. We pulled in our lines and he headed back to Destin. On the way in, he got a radio call with an explanation of what had happened.

The downed aircraft was a jet target drone. The two F-4s had shot it down about 50 miles outside of the target range (which was farther south, out to sea). They had shot it down right in the middle of the Destin fishing fleet. They had almost sunk a party boat with 20-30 people on it.

It made the news. Heads rolled. Still, I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach for days. It was, indeed, a harbinger of things to come and sights I would see in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia.

[IndianaGreen]

23. Weren't these planes grounded because of structural failure?

I thought USAF grounded all F-15s.

[Nailzberg]

25. I stand corrected below

Thought it was only the A's. Was wrong.

[RL3AO]

28. No. It was an F15C that caused the grounding.

[Nailzberg]

31. I stand corrected. Problem is with a portion of the A-D models as you point out.

I hadn't been following this too closely. I know they've identified the problem, and I see they've returned many A-D models to service. I thought it was just the A's that were faulty, thanks for pointing it out.

[RL3AO]

26. According to WP

On January 8, 2008, the USAF Air Combat Command (ACC) cleared a portion of its F-15A through D-model fleet for return to flying status. It also recommended a limited return to flight for units worldwide using the affected models.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15#Grounded_by_USAF

[IndianaGreen]

29. Thanks!

I hope they find the pilots.

[Nailzberg]

27. UPDATE: CNN reporting pilots rescued. Details unavailable.

But that's good to hear.

[DemoTex]

30. EXCELLENT NEWS!

I hope they are well! If so .. Beer at the O-club 2-night!

[Nailzberg]

34. I'll hoist one for the Eagle drivers and another for the Coasties that went to find them.

In honor of their service and bravery. There's nothing safe about their jobs. :patriot:

[DemoTex]

36. Amen, my friend.

They had their heads in the mouth of the cat-o-death today.

[judaspriestess]

33. lots of activity coming out of Nellis today

some days the jets are so loud, its one of those days.

I'm glad to hear the pilots are ok.

[Eugene]

37. AP: Pilots Rescued After Fighter Jets Crash

Source: Associated Press

Pilots Rescued After Fighter Jets Crash

By MELISSA NELSON – 1 hour ago

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Two fighter jets crashed into the
Gulf of Mexico during a training mission Wednesday, but the
pilots ejected and 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.
Weather in the area was clear.

Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless said a Coast Guard
rescue jet located one pilot and radioed the location to a
fishing vessel, which picked him up. A Coast Guard helicopter
then hoisted the pilot off the vessel.

That pilot told rescuers he saw the other pilot also eject,
but lost him in the clouds, Harless said. He told them the
approximate location for the second pilot, who was found by
a Coast Guard helicopter, Harless said.

-snip-

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5LKyjmNAXQBwbfPh7S_KuwX3F3QD8UUCCF00

[Eugene]

43. BBC: US fighter pilot dies after crash

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 03:22 GMT

US fighter pilot dies after crash

A US military pilot has died after two F-15C fighter
jets crashed into the Gulf of Mexico during a training
mission, the air force says.

Both men were able to eject and were picked up
during a rescue operation off the Florida panhandle.
The surviving pilot is said to be in good condition.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7255979.stm

[Nailzberg]

44. God bless the men who fly, through lonely way across the sky.

My thanks and praise for your service, and my prayers for your family. :patriot:

[IndianaGreen]

45. Very sad. MSNBC is reporting the same story.

1 of 2 F-15 pilots rescued in Gulf of Mexico dies

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.

<snip>

A Coast Guard rescue jet located one pilot and radioed the location to a fishing vessel, which picked him up, said Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless. A Coast Guard helicopter then hoisted the pilot off the vessel.

That pilot told rescuers he saw the other pilot also eject but lost him in the clouds, Harless said. He told them the approximate location for the second pilot, who was found by a Coast Guard helicopter, Harless said.

No debris from the jets has been found, Harless said.

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