* Very sad


Pilots Rescued After Fighter Jets Crash

By MELISSA NELSON – 1 hour ago
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Two fighter jets likely collided and crashed during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, but the pilots ejected and were rescued, the Air Force 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, Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Shirley Pigott said.
The planes crashed during a training exercise "emphasizing basic maneuvers and tactics," said Col. Todd Harmer, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, 58th Fighter Squadron.
The cause of the collision was not immediately known, but the Air Force will investigate, Harmer said. Weather in the area was clear.
Both pilots had been with the wing "for quite some time," Harmer said.
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.
Harmer said he had no information on the condition of the pilots, who were being taken to Eglin base hospital.
No debris from the jets has been found, Harless said.
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 as high as 65,000 feet, and each costs about $30 million, according to the Air Force.



Link
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...X3F3QD8UUDQHG0



Airman dies in collision during training


By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - An Air Force fighter pilot died Wednesday after his jet and another likely collided during a training exercise and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The other pilot was rescued and is expected to survive.




Link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/...missing_planes

Its time to bid adieu to the F-15. Its a 40 year old design that has always been expensive to maintain, and its now way past its prime, especially when you look at the newer designs rolling off the assembly line both from friendly and from potential adversaries.

Its time for an honorable retirement

so they rescued both pilots and one died later? sad. Is the replacement for the F-15 the raptor or the f-35?

According to US Air Force The US Air Forces designed objectives as somebody pointed out to are. F-22 replacing the F-15 in the fighter role and F-35 replacing the F-16 in he ground pounder role. I think the F-35 will be a cross over platform but time will tell.

Training exercise can get intense and since a life was lost I'll wait for more facts come out. A quick read on this is it wasn't a design issue flaw like other F-15 crashes.

hooah........