Not many details yet. LINK

When I was a young sprout in South Dakota I remember the SD Wing of the Air National Guard losing several F4's. Hope the pilot is ok.

If it had to happen at least it went down in the woods. Prayers said for the pilot.

crashed 25miles from my house near deerfield. some of those mountains can be pretty steep. haven't heard exactly where it crashed.

CAVU day, too.
Hope he got on the handles in time.

As of a hour ago the pilot hasn't been located. Witnesses claim they saw a chute.

They've been flying heavy overhead the past few weeks. I believe the jets that fly over here are out of Norfolk/Hampton Roads

Report I read said that this specific bird was headed to New Orleans for a radar system upgrade.

out of Massatushess..I live in VB, and don't know of any F-15s that live around here..

Lets hope our guy is ok

That is not good.

Losing one of our best aircraft and possibly its driver and backseat WSO sucks...

The "C" is a one-seater. I can't find any reference to the "chute sighted" claim, but hope that's true. Still, this many hours without some sighting or contact is worrisome.

Edit: Just found a news story that says "witnesses reported a chute" but that's all.

"C" model is a single seat.

Appears they have numerous choppers in the area searching for the pilot.

That is some steep, thickly covered country around there. I would think they could spot the cute, but actually getting in there could be very difficult.

You'd think the plane would be equipped with a switch that triggers a signal in the event of ejection.

According to the squadron information officer because the pilot ejected over a forest he/she would have released the seat cushion before hitting the ground, the pilot would be without a radio. He keeps inferring that the pilot may be male or female.

Back in the day we were told that tree landings can be rough on the body...

Our chutes were equipped with locator beacons, set off when the rip cord was pulled.

The aircraft was equipped with the ACES II ejection seat, and assuming the pilot set the switch on the seat correctly (and we set this religiously - I'm an old F-15 pilot), the beacon transmits when ejection is initiated. Pulling the D-ring (rip cord) is a contingency, as the parachute opens automatically based on aircraft parameters (speed, altitude, etc.).

The chute sighting is indeed good news, as it at least indicates an ejection.

Did your chutes have a let-down device?

I know the C is single seat just couldn't get the link to work on our slow server so didn't read the article.Sure hope his egress was uneventful.

i've hunted most of those mountains and there are some pretty remote areas in that part of augusta and highland counties. he could be a fair ways from a road.

i've hunted most of those mountains and there are some pretty remote areas in that part of augusta and highland counties. he could be a fair ways from a road.

Yes, but it was location-dependent, as it was sewn onto the harness itself, and added a little weight and bulk.

My thought are with the pilot and his/her family...I can imagine landing in mountainous wooded terrain is not fun..

All of our (Navy) ejection seats have a "seat beeper", URT-33 if I remember correctly) in them that is activated when the seat starts up the rails. I imagine the Air Force seats have the same or one similar. The automatic transmissions on the frequencies of 243.0 and 121.5 of the beeper can be disabled in a combat situation so the bad guys can't zero in on the location.

We were always briefed to find the beeper in the seat pack and turn it off because it essentially jams those frequencies which are used by SAR along with 282.8.

Amen, prayers from here.

Still no news that I've been able to find. That's ominous. Although I hope it's just the lack of comms in that area that's delaying the spreading of news.

I just checked after tying up for the night. After seeing the smoke picture, the crash site is pretty close to the world.
A boom means the aircraft hit the ground all at once, not in chunks, and the smoke is straight up from the ground, not a trail or streamers.
I don't think he got out unless he punched out high and drifted far. But every pair of eyes for miles would have been ogling for a chute after the impact.

its not looking good.

Thanks for the shout out, though, Woody!

Prayers for the pilot and family. There but by the grace of God...

Josh you came right to mind when I heard this,any ideas on the crash especially as the problem seems to originated at high altitude?

Just dayum..

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140829/us--military_jet_crash-virginia-f05b5fa021.html


Military pilot was killed in Virginia F-15 crash

Aug 28, 10:14 PM (ET)

By ALAN SUDERMAN

(AP) The flight crew for a Maryland State Police helicopter prepares to take off from the...
Full Image

DEERFIELD, Va. (AP) � The pilot of an F-15 jet that crashed this week in remote Virginia mountains was killed, military officials said Thursday, bringing to a sad end an exhaustive two-day search involving more than 100 local, state and federal officials as well as volunteers.

Col. James Keefe announced the news at the Massachusetts Air National Guard in Westfield, Mass., home of the 104th Fighter Wing with which the pilot and jet were based.

Keefe said his "thoughts and prayers are with the family" of the pilot, whose identity wasn't disclosed.

The jet crashed in the mountains of western Virginia on Wednesday morning, shaking residents but causing no injuries on the ground.

Authorities said the pilot of the single-seat jet was headed to New Orleans for radar installation as part of routine maintenance and reported an inflight emergency before losing radio contact.

Officials haven't said whether the pilot ejected or what caused the crash, which left a deep crater and a large debris field in a heavily wooded but level area adjacent to a mountain in the George Washington National Forest.

They said an official safety investigation board is being convened and the investigation into the crash was ongoing.

Keefe said there were no munitions onboard the jet at the time of the crash. He said the plane was flying at about 30,000 to 40,000 feet when the pilot reported the emergency.

F-15s are maneuverable tactical fighters that can reach speeds up to 1,875 mph, according to the Air Force website. The F-15C Eagle entered the Air Force inventory in 1979 and costs nearly $30 million, the website says. The Air Force has nearly 250 F-15s.

Several F-15s have crashed over the past few years in various states. In at least one, the pilot ejected safely. Causes included failure of a support structure for the jet and pilot error.

Thoughts and prayers said for the family of the pilot.

Sad news indeed.

Heard a confirmation of the fatality, a very experienced pilot.

Woody, to address your question about potential causes, it's tough to say. At the altitude that it was reported, hypoxia or rapid-D is always a consideration. Reports say that the pilot declared an IFE, however, so it sounds like he was working a known issue. Speculation only, of course.

Thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Damn...was afraid he didn't survive since the last report I heard wasn't good ..just goes to show there are no givens in the overall scheme of things as routine can morph into disaster with the blink of an eye..

Thoughts and prayers as well for his family

scheeit. another of americas finest taking one for the team.