F-15 Pilot's Body Found Off Oregon Coast

The body of a pilot whose F-15 fighter jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean has been recovered, the Oregon Air National Guard said Wednesday.

The remains were nearly 40 miles west of Cannon Beach, which is on the northern end of the Oregon coast, the Guard said in a statement.

It did not say when the body had been found. The pilot was not immediately identified.

"It's hard, it's really hard right now," Guard spokeswoman Maj. Misti Mazzia said Wednesday.

The plane crashed Tuesday afternoon during a training exercise that pitted F-15s from Oregon Guard against F/A-18s from a Marine Corps Reserve unit stationed near Fort Worth, Texas.

It was designed to sharpen fighting skills by giving the pilots experience in flying against a different kind of aircraft, Guard officials said.

A fellow pilot reported to searchers from the Coast Guard that no parachute was seen. The Coast Guard sent helicopters, cutters and a C-130 aircraft, and said it had found a debris field.

Skies were mostly clear with some high clouds when the accident occurred about 1:35 p.m.

The cause of the crash was unknown. The Guard said an Air Force Safety Board would investigate the crash.