A U.S. Air Force F-15C jet fighter on a routine training mission crashed earlier today off the coast of Japan. The pilot ejected and was quickly picked up by search and rescue forces, who transported him to a local hospital. In a public affairs release posted on Twitter, the U.S. Air Force’s Kadena Air Base stated that on June 11, 2018 at 6:26 AM local time, a F-15C belonged to the 44th Fighter Squadron, 18th Wing crashed about 50 miles south of the Japanese island of Okinawa. U.S. and Japanese search and rescue units on the island immediately scrambled. The pilot was picked up by a Japan Air Self Defense Force search and rescue helicopter operating from Naha Air Base. Rescuers transported the pilot to the U.S. Naval Hospital at Camp Foster, where he is reportedly in serious condition. According to Japan’s NHK news network, the pilot suffered a broken leg. Kadena Air Base says the the F-15C was involved in a routine training mission. Japan’s Daily Yomiuri says that the plane was involved in a training exercise with seven other aircraft. The incident is the fourth crash involving a Okinawa-based F-15 since 2002. In each of the four cases, the pilot survived. A fifth accident in 2011 involved a Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15J; the pilot was never found. As a result of today’s accident, the 18th Wing has “temporarily paused” local F-15 training operations to “review operational, maintenance, and safety procedures with unit personnel.” The base also says it will convene a board of officers to determine the cause of the incident. Four F-15 Eagles from the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons at Kadena Air Base, October 2017. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Omari Bernard Kadena Air Base is on the Japanese island of Okinawa, which is located just 457 miles from mainland China. The island is heavily militarized, with U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps bases stationed there in addition to the Japan Self Defense Forces. The 18th Wing at Kadena is one of the largest U.S. Air Force units based outside American territory. The wing operates more than 80 planes, including the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons of F-15C Eagles, the 909th Air Refueling Squadron flying KC-135 Stratotankers, the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron with E-3 AWACS, and the 33rd Rescue Squadron that flies HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters. Introduced in the mid-1970s, the F-15C Eagle is an air superiority fighter designed to destroy other airplanes in air-to-air combat. The U.S. Air Force has 244 F-15Cs in service around the globe. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>The pilot was rescued by Japan Air Self-Defense Force Search and Rescue and was in serious condition at the hospital, Kadena posted on Twitter.“Our hearts and prayers go to the pilot and his family as they go through this difficult time,” it said.<doc-sep>TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. military F15 fighter jet crashed in waters off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, where the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan are based, during a routine training mission on Monday, U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement. The pilot, the only person in the aircraft, ejected successfully and was recovered by search and rescue crews, the statement said. A board of officers would investigate the incident, it said. Many residents of Okinawa associate the U.S. military bases with crime, accidents and pollution and want them moved off the island. A series of emergency landings and parts falling from U.S. military aircraft have highlighted safety concerns. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is moving ahead with a contentious plan to relocate the U.S. Marines’ Futenma airbase from an urban area in central Okinawa to the less populated Henoko district of Nago city in the island’s north.<doc-sep>
A U.S. Air Force base in Japan has temporarily grounded its F-15 Eagle fleet following a crash early Monday that left the pilot in serious condition. The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, said in a statement that an F-15C assigned to the 44th Fighter Squadron of the 18th Wing crashed at approximately 6:26 a.m. in the waters south of Okinawa. The pilot "successfully ejected and was rescued by Japan Air Self-Defense Force," the Air Force said. The pilot was transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital on Camp Foster and is in serious condition, the statement added. ADVERTISEMENT Officials said the cause of the crash is unknown. It occurred during a “routine training mission," the Air Force said. "A board of officers will conduct a thorough investigation, examining the facts and circumstances that led up to the accident to determine the cause," according to the base. The base said it has "temporarily paused F-15 local training operations while the 18th Wing reviews operational, maintenance and safety procedures with unit personnel." The incident is the latest in a series of aviation mishaps over the past year that have left 18 airmen and crew dead and dozens more injured. That includes a T-38 crash that killed a pilot in November in Texas, a C-130 aircraft crash that killed nine people near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia in May and an F-16 crash April 4 in Nevada that killed an Air Force Thunderbirds pilot. To address the crashes, the House Armed Services Committee this week will hold a hearing on the recent uptick in aviation accidents, which are at a six-year high, according to a Military Times investigation. And earlier this month the House moved to establish an independent commission to study military aviation safety, including it in its annual defense policy bill.