F-15 Crashes In Nevada Desert; 1 Dead

(AP)  An F-15 fighter jet crashed during training over the Nevada desert Wednesday, killing one pilot and injuring another.

The two-seater F-15D Eagle went down in the vast Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas, according to a statement released by Nellis Air Force Base officials.

One pilot was declared dead shortly after the crash. The second was in stable condition at the base hospital, base spokesman Andrew Dumboski said.

Both pilots were assigned to the 65th Aggressor Squadron, which simulates enemy forces in air combat training exercises regularly held at Nellis. The Air Force base is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Las Vegas.

The names of the two pilots were not immediately released.

The F-15D Eagle is primarily used for tactical missions and costs $29.9 million, according to Air Force figures.

[oranjeboom15]

Wolf563- I''m with you on the priceless value of human life... but I''m not sure if any AF officials ever complained about the pain of losing $29.9M. If you listened to the news conference held by the 57WG/CC the emphasis was on the loss of the pilot. It is a standard practice that a news report writes a brief description of the jet involved, its capability & value, but none was to say or complain that the late 65AGRS/CC was hurting the AF budget with this incident. After all, we spend OPM... if you know what I meant by that. Nobody I know in the AF ever put $$ over personnel safety.

Cheers!!

[observer2020]

I agree that privatization is THE worse thing that''s ever happened to the military and our government. People are doing jobs that require a sense of emergency and they have none--they''re just worried about getting their company paycheck. I''ve seen it personally over the years and have been sickened by the results.

My prayers go out to the pilot and my condolences to the family and friends of this brave person.

[wolf563]

The planes are testing new radar systems and the stresses it causes to stabilization is causing the plane to vibrate and shake apart .

[wolf563]

Lost another plane at 29.9 million . ooh so sad . What`s the VALUE on the person that died . Your focus on dollar loss is sickening when you over look the value of the pilots death . Always remember that you can replace a machine but you cannot replace the person who dies .

[whiskyrokkr]

Airplanes crash. Hazards of the job.

[imprisonkarl]

Hmmmmm . . . yet another Air Force incident with a tragic ending . . . and coming on the heels of the revelation that Blackwater is getting into the aircraft/air force business . . . hmmmmmm.

No coincidence, of course. Eric Prince just happens to be real chummy w/Cheney & Bush, but that has nothing to do with the DOD steering billions of taxpayer dollars Blackwater''s way, does it? Why, no, not at all.

The Cheney/Bush regime''s solution to all our problems is to privatize everything. Just look at how well it''s turned out at Walter Reed (turned over to one of ex-veep Dan Qualyle''s companies), and the State Dept.''s passport division (turned over to Citibank -- so now there''s a 6 mo.-to 1 yr. wait -- oh yeah! -- all those pesky little security background requirements are magically gone!), and the FDA is now inhabited by industry hacks who slither back and forth between government & private sector jobs like the sewer-dwellers that they are . . . etc., etc.

All this would make a great sci-fi horror novel, if it wasn''t real. But it is, unfortunately.

[j_flood]

Condolences and concern for the families involved.

[tbweb]

Time to replace aging aging F-15`s with newer F-22 Raptors! The downed pilot is in our prayers.