Pilot Dies After 2 Air Force Jets Collide
Air Force Says F-15s Crashed Into Gulf Of Mexico; Other Pilot In Good Condition
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(CBS/AP)
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The Air Force says the two single-seat F-15C Eagles likely collided and crashed during a training exercise Wednesday off the Florida Panhandle.
The pilots were able to eject and were later rescued.
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.
Harless added that no debris from the jets has been found yet.
Coast guard officials in New Orleans told CBS News affiliate WWL-TV that they responded to a distress call 40 miles off the coast from Tyndall Air Force Base.
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.
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he F15''''s are getting a little long in the tooth. Didn''''t the navy retire theirs a few years ago? Seems the Air Force should fill in with some more F16 Falcons until the Raptor comes on line.
Posted by SgtRDS at 07:30 PM : Feb 20, 2008
*****
A **little** long in the tooth?
Both the F-15 and F-16 were in service when I was in almost 30 years ago, and they were built when *planned obsolescence* was the industry standard. Nothing like the craftsmanship that went into B-52s, F-4s and F-111s.
Posted by SgtRDS
The Navy deep sixed their F-14''s just recently. The F/A-18E Super Hornet replaced them and will supplement existing F/-18C''s.
The USAF has about 100 F-22 Raptors so far to replace the F-15''s. The F-35 Lighting is set to replace the F-16''s for the AF and Harriers for the Marines (and various European forces).
They were searching for George Bushit''s service records!
Technical problems persist, especially with complex systems. The puzzle-- most pushers for new fighter tech play down bugs as "inevitable", rarely honoring simplicity and cost-effectiveness beyond a token nod in PowerPoint presentations.
The closest this country ever came to a truly intelligent fighter design was the F16. Chuck Spinney made his design so agile, easily-serviced and cheap, it was a stunning example of what America does at its inspired, technical best. Of course, the Pentagon promptly loaded the airframe with all they could, and beefed the engines to counter the extra weight and corrected for handling problems-- and overlooked Spinney''s concept entirely.
The incident of the two F15Cs shows expensive and fatal bugs linger almost forever. Only a few years ago, an F16 flipped upside down while flying over its runway because of a "software glitch".
Such anomalies showcase a paradox-- just when a design is field-refined to be reasonably free of problems, it is doomed to be labeled "obsolete" by those selling a new design at ten times the cost, and full of new bugs. Demonstrating a truth that most IT people fervently believe-- if it isn''t a significant problem, don''t "fix" it before you examine your own motives!
Posted by cyberus at 07:52 PM : Feb 20, 2008
When I was stationed at Grand Forks AFB from ''73-''77 it was a bomber/ICBM base, so the only time I saw any fighters were a few T-36 Trainers that some of the older pilots flying desk''s would use to stay qualified for flight pay while waiting to retire. Beautiful aircraft! I liked the F-4''s too (saw ''em at a Thunderbirds air show when I was 16 and it made me want to join the USAF), but they had no guns, only missiles, so they weren''t great dog fighters, or so I''m told. I wouldn''t be surprised if some of the B-52''s at GFAFB were still floating around somewhere today.
Posted by hebe1984
Then go there with your spam, we don''t need it here. Reported.
I will forever find it disgusting that too many people use this forum to produce vile and forgettable comments.
Posted by zootallures2
And what about your freedoms they have upheald for idiots like you!!!!
And what about your freedoms they have upheald for idiots like you!!!!
Posted by dvldog5 at 09:18 AM : Feb 21, 2008
Is this like highschool where the little guy brown noses the tough guys for protection? You are an immature baboon. God is far more pwerful than the US military any day of the week. God created the real universe, not the city of tiny lights you live in.
And the F-15C is strictly a fighter. It can''''t bomb anyone.
Posted by rafterman1 at 09:25 AM : Feb 21, 2008
That''s what happens when people worship people and not God.
They are blambing the F-15 for piolet error.
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive
You really are naive, aren''t you. There are several fighters in our inventory. Aircraft can usually be defined by their designation:
A is ATTACK
B is BOMBER
C is CARGO
D, E and T are Trainers
F is FIGHTER
H is HELICOPTER
X is EXPERIMENTAL
Thus, an AH1J (COBRA) would be an ATTACK HELICOPTER, JET powered.
Just a brief lesson; I know I haven''t covered them all.
My condolences and heartfelt appreciation to the families of these brave men and women who choose to serve in our defense.
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by danceswithfa
February 23, 2008 4:47 AM PST
- Two less airplanes and one less pilot to conduct Bush''s mass murders.
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See all 40 CommentsToo bad the people in the military are too spineless to stand up for what is good and right in the world, unfortunately they just follow immoral orders like "good Germans".