February 20, 2008

How do 2 F-15's "go missing"? WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??

Ahem. An oversight question.

Why have MORE F-15s been ordered, like 70 of them?

ENQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.

I am sure that Henry Waxman and all the others are just going to leap on this story, and DO something.

Veeger


2 Air Force F-15Cs Missing Off Florida
By MELISSA NELSON
Associated Press Writer

The Air Force says two fighter jets and their pilots disappeared Wednesday during a training mission over the Gulf of Mexico.

Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Sgt. Brian Jones said the single-seat F-15C Eagles disappeared about 3 p.m. EST off the Florida Panhandle and that search and rescue efforts were under way.

The Coast Guard sent three helicopters, a plane and two boats. Air Force officials are investigating.

"We don't know what led to the disappearance,"
said Master Sgt. Andrew Leonhard, an Air Force spokesman.
"We've had no contact from the pilots."

The Air Force grounded all of its F-15s - nearly 700 - after the catastrophic failure of an F-15C during a routine training flight in Missouri in November. The pilot safely ejected.

Most were back in service by January, but others were grounded indefinitely after defects were found.

The Air Force began using the F-15C in 1979. The planes, built by McDonnell Douglas Corp., were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm and have since been used in Iraq, Turkey and Bosnia.

The planes can fly up to 65,000 feet and each costs about $30 million, according to the Air Force.


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