Posts Tagged ‘wood’
Japan F-15 crash causes grounding of entire fleet
Japanese officials said Wednesday that it has grounded its entire F-15 fighter fleet following the crash of one of the jets into the East China Sea.
Japan’s Defense Ministry ordered the fleet to remain on the ground pending an investigation into the cause of the crash Tuesday, when an F-15 based on the island of Okinawa went down during a routine training mission.
The pilot of the jet remains missing and about a half dozen naval ships have been mobilized in a search for him, the ministry said in a statement. Debris from the jet’s tail has been spotted in the ocean. It was not known if the pilot was able to eject before the crash.
Japan, with 202 F-15 fighters, is the biggest foreign user of the popular U.S.-designed planes but is currently looking for a newer aircraft to replace its aging fleet.
Though many upgrades and changes to the planes have been made over the years, F-15 fighters have been in service since the early 1970s and are increasingly expensive to maintain. The United States, which also relies heavily on the aircraft, is planning to phase out its F-15s in favor of the more advanced F-35 and F-22.
The Japanese versions of the plane, originally built by McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing, are produced domestically under a license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
-japantoday.com
F-15s intercept small plane flying over Camp David
On June 11, two US F-15 fighter jets intercepted a small civilian plane flying near Camp David, the presidential retreat where Barack Obama is spending the weekend with his family.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the F-15 jets intercepted the Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft near the Maryland retreat at around 3:25 pm (1925 GMT).
NORAD said they escorted it away “without incident.”
“The civilian aircraft, which was out of radio communication, was intercepted approximately 11 miles from Camp David,” it said in a statement.
“The F-15s… escorted the aircraft out of the area and it landed at Hagerstown, Maryland, without incident.”
NORAD spokeswoman Stacey Knott said the plane was intercepted out of an “abundance of caution” because it was out of radio contact, adding that it did not appear to pose any threat.
Camp David is one of the United States’ eleven ‘No-Fly Zones.’ Originally a three-mile radius, it was increased to eight-miles after September 11, 2001.
The area, known as Prohbited Area 40 is over Thurmont, Maryland, surrounding Catoctin Mountain Park.
The retreat has been used to host multiple heads of state since Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Winston Churchill to join him there in 1943.
The camp is also U.S Navy installation and is alleged to be one of the safest places in the world.
-dailymail.co.uk
Pilot dies in Saudi F-15 jet training crash
A Saudi pilot died when his U.S.-made F-15 fighter jet crashed in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Lt. Saif bin Abdullah died when his F-15 plane crashed late on Monday evening during a routine training flight over King Abdul-Aziz air base in the country’s east.
The statement says authorities are investigating the crash.
Saudi Arabia announced last fall a $60 billion deal to buy 84 new F-15 fighter jets.
-articles.boston.com
