2 US F-15s missing in Scotland; also Army Plane Crashes in Germany

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Mon, 26 Mar 2001, 1:06pm EST Search Begins After U.S. Jets Go Missing in Scotland (Update1) By Todd Zeranski

Washington, March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Search efforts have begun in the mountainous terrain of northern Scotland after two U.S. fighter jets on a routine training mission over the area went missing, Air Force Captain Eric Knapp said at the Pentagon.

Each of the Boeing Co.-made F-15 fighters carries a single crewmember. The jets were declared missing after they became overdue in their scheduled return to a base in Lakenheath in southern England, Knapp said. The aircraft are part of the 493rd Fighter Squadron, of the 48th Fighter Wing, the top U.S. fighter unit in the area. Lakenheath is about 70 miles outside of London.

The U.K. Royal Air Force received reports of an explosion in Scotland's Cairngorm Mountains, spokesman Michael Mulford told Sky News.

``We are profoundly concerned and becoming pessimistic,'' Mulford told Sky News.

The RAF's Kinloss rescue unit is conducting a search mission, Knapp said. And police in Grampian are carrying out a ground search in the rugged area, spokeswoman Jane Lawrenson told CNN.

``The Cairngorm Mountains are covered in snow, and conditions are not good,'' Inspector Hamish Sandison of the Grampian Police said. ``There are frequent snow blizzards, poor visibility and very low temperatures.'' The weather conditions ``are not allowing helicopters'' to join in the search, Sandison said.

The F-15 is the Air Force's main air-to-air combat plane.

Separately, two people were killed when a U.S. Army reconnaissance plane crashed in Germany, the Associated Press reported, citing U.S. officials. No other details were immediately available about the crash, which occurred about seven miles east of Nuremberg. !!CANNOT OPEN FILE: /bb/bin/web/markets/textfiles/ad_position1_windex.txt!!

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World%20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_topworld&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=blk&bt=ad_position1_windex&middle=ad_frame2_windex&s=AOr_DMRTeU2VhcmNo

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), March 26, 2001

Answers

Headline: Body Found in British Search for U.S. Warplanes

Source: By MIKE COLLETT-WHITE, Reuters, 27 Mar 2001

via http://www.latimes.com/wires/20010327/tCB00a6340.html

LONDON--Rescue teams searching for two missing U.S. F-15C fighters and their pilots have found a body in the Scottish Highlands, the Royal Air Force said Tuesday.

"That is the situation, although the identity has not been made official yet," RAF search and rescue spokesman Michael Mulford told Reuters.

The wreckage from one of the aircraft was spotted earlier by rescue volunteers hunting in heavy snow and strong winds, conditions which Mulford described as "hellish."

"The wreckage was from one of the fighters. Which one it is we do not know," Mulford added.

The planes went missing Monday on a low-flying training mission over Scotland.

The U.S. Air Force named the two missing pilots as Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Hyvonen from the 48th Operations Support Squadron and Captain Kirk Jones of the 493rd Fighter Squadron.

Both were based at the Lakenheath air base in southern England used by the U.S. Air Force.

The search involving RAF Nimrod aircraft, U.S. military helicopters and up to 250 RAF, police and civilian rescue teams resumed at first light Tuesday.

"TOP GUN" FIGHTERS MAY HAVE TOUCHED MID-AIR

Mulford refused to speculate on reports that the "Top Gun" fighters had crashed in the Cairngorms mountain range after touching in mid- air.

"It is a mystery until we solve it," he said of the disappearance of the combat aircraft which have ruled the skies for the last 30 years with their powerful engines, outstanding maneuverability and excellent radar.

The single-seat F-15C aircraft were on a low-flying training mission when radio contact was lost at about 1:15 p.m. Monday.

A member of the public reported hearing an explosion in the mountainous area at about the same time.

Fred Lawson, who was driving through the area with his wife Susan, told the BBC he saw the two planes.

"This jet came straight at us. I said to my wife, 'this is extraordinary, it looks totally out of control', whereupon it veered way up into the sky, turned left, and went north toward Ben Macdui into a heavy snow storm," Lawson said.

"A second one came following it looking as if it was under control." Lawson said the planes were flying "extremely low" at a height of about 650 feet.

A third U.S. plane, an army RC-12, crashed near the southern German town of Nuremberg Monday, killing two pilots.

U.S. President George W. Bush asked 10,000 people during a speech in Billings, Montana, to join him in a brief silent prayer for the four servicemen.

"I do want you all to join me in a moment of silent prayer for two soldiers, men who wore the uniform of America, who lost their lives in Germany and two of our pilots who are missing over Great Britain," he said.

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), March 27, 2001.


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