Message posted by Joerg (Webmaster) on August 03, 2000 at 18:51:10 EST:
This morning around 10am we had an aircraft crash during the Green Flag maneuvers. An F-15 crashed about 13 miles north of Rachel. The black smoke was clearly visible from Rachel. Of course I was one of the first on the scene. Driving out there I heard the other fighters receive orders to RTB, except for one other F-15 (his wingman?) who was ordered to circle over the crash site to secure the scene. Coming closer I could see flares going off in the burning wreckage. There were rescue crews with two large twin-rotor helicopters on scene. The wreck is pretty much in one piece but especially the front section is extremely mangled. The twin tail section is sitting upright, and is the only recognizable piece. There are no skid marks, and hardly any scattered debris. It looks like it just fell head-on out of the sky. The canopy and the ejection seat are sitting only a few hundred yards to the NW of the wreckage, and the rescue crew tols me that the pilot was able to eject and is ok. It seems that he stayed with his crippled plane almost until the end, to make sure that it does not hit any buildings. We people of Rachel appreciate his courage, and wish him well. The rescue crew told me that the plane was flying as part of the Green Flag Exercises. No word on the cause of the crash. No other airplanes seem to be involved, and my best guess at this time is engine failure, or failure of a vital system, in mid or high altitude. Shortly after me arrived a truck with two Lockheed-Martin employees. However, they did not appear to be particularly interested in the wreckage, as they would have been if there had been anything black about the flight. We expect the crash investigation crew to arrive here shortly, and I will post more details as they become available. I will publish some photos in the crash site section soon.
Replies: