Pilot not yet named
Kadena F-15 crashes over
water
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa, Japan -- An F-15 Eagle assigned to the 44th Fighter Squadron at Kadena crashed at approximately 10 a.m. today during an air-to-air training mission in W-173, an over-water training zone about 65 miles (55 nautical miles) northeast of here. The fighter jet was part of a 4-ship F-15 formation that took off from Kadena at approximately 9:30 a.m. The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft, and the other three F-15s returned safely to base.
The location of the crash site was nearly 15 miles into the “Whisky” training area, at latitude 26 degrees 25 minutes 17 seconds north and longitude 128 degrees 44 minutes 0 seconds east.
An Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crew
remained in contact with the pilot, who was recovered at approximately
10:50 a.m. by a search and rescue team from the 31st and 33rd
Rescue Squadrons assigned to Kadena. The pilot was recovered in good
condition, and transported aboard an HH-60 Pave Hawk directly to the
The cause of the accident is under
investigation and more information will be provided as soon as it
becomes available.
The F-15, tail number 498, was manufactured in 1978.
