VA - F15 fighter jet crashed, pilot missing *Update: found deceased*

zwiebel

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A desperate air and ground search is continuing through the night in a remote part of Deerfield, Virginia, looking for a missing F-15 fighter pilot, according to Corrine Geller, Virginia State Police spokeswoman. Augusta County officials have declared a state of emergency to allow all agencies to work on the search.

The Fighter jet crashed this morning but there were reports of a parachute seen and it's hoped the pilot ejected safely.

Search crew are looking for the Massachusetts National Guard pilot on foot and horseback, using canines.

Col. James Keefe, 104th Fighter Wing commander, said:

'At 09:05 am, Washington Center lost communication with one of our F-15C aircraft. It was flying a cross-country mission over western Virginia. We learned at 0930 that the aircraft had crashed at a remote site near the West Virginia border near a town called Deerfield.

"(It's) very remote, no cell towers down there....It's five to six miles from the crash site to nearest civilization,"

The pilot reported an in-flight emergency to Washington Center.'

http://lynnrmitchell.wordpress.com/...h-and-rescue-effort-for-military-jet-fighter/

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/08/104th_fighter_wing_commander_s.html

http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2014/08/27/report-plane-crash-deerfield/14675183/
 
I'm worried because they haven't found the pilot yet. I'll keep praying that he's found and ok.
 
So sad. I was hoping he had managed to eject in time.
 
How heartbreaking, I was hoping he had managed to survive the crash too.
 
A pilot from the Barnes 104th Air Fighter Wing killed last year in a crash in a remote part of Virginia was incapacitated and unable to unable to either pull up from a rapid descent or to eject, according to an Air Force investigation released Monday.

The comment section here includes interesting theories about how pilot became incapacitated:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/air_force_report_104th_fighter.html

Here's the Air Force Accident Investigation Report:
http://lmgcorporate.com/wshm/news/AIB%20Fontenot%20report.PDF

My thoughts are with Lt. Col. Fontenot's family and friends as the one year anniversary of this crash rapidly approaches.
 

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