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Twee F-15C jagers van het Amerikaanse leger zijn tijdens een trainingsvlucht langs de kust van Florida met elkaar in botsing gekomen. Waar de piloten zich bevinden en of ze nog in leven zijn, is nog niet geweten. De kustwacht heeft een reddingsteam uitgezonden. (belga/gb)



2 US fighter planes crash mid-air off Florida - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US F-15C fighter planes crashed in mid-air near Florida, an Air Force spokeswoman said Wednesday, adding they had no information about the condition of the pilots involved.

The jets were on a training mission when they crashed at 3:21 pm (2021 GMT) in the air over the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the spokeswoman said.
"We don't have any information" on the pilots, she said, adding that "recovery operations" were underway.
The US Air Force recently returned to service nearly all of its F-15 A to D jets, after grounding them following a crash of an F-15C in Missouri in November 2007. The pilot in that case ejected safely and emerged with minor injuries.
Around 450 aircraft, about 60 percent of the Air Force's F-15 fleet, were grounded for inspections following that crash, but only nine F-15 A to D jets remain grounded, the spokeswoman said.

Officials: Pilots rescued after two F-15Cs collide - CNN.com

(CNN) -- Two Air Force fighter pilots have been rescued after their F-15C jets collided during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, according to Air Force officials.
Two F-15C fighter jets, like the one pictured, collided over the Gulf of Mexico, the Air Force says.

Both pilots are alive, but Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Lois Walsh said she was unable to comment about their conditions.
The planes were from the 33rd Fighter Wing, a combat-flying unit out of Eglin Air Force Base, near Pensacola, Florida.
The crash happened about 3 p.m. about 50 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless said helicopters, airplanes and ships were deployed from Florida, Alabama and Louisiana to help with the search.
Air Force search and rescue and U.S. Coast Guard crews raced to the scene of the collision to pick up the two fliers, who had been on a routine training mission.
In January, a top Air Force general said a manufacturing defect blamed for causing a midair breakup of an F-15C Eagle, which occurred in November, might lead the Air Force to permanently ground a quarter of those warplanes.
There is no information that points to a manufacturing defect as the cause of Wednesday's incident.