[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Reuters

******************************

U.S. F-18 jet crashes in Iraq, pilot killed
Tue May 3, 2005 03:56 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military has found the body of the pilot of a Marine F-18 jet that crashed in Iraq but a second F-18 is still missing, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday.

There were no indications that the plane had come under hostile fire and it was not clear if the two aircraft had collided, the spokesman said.

"We have not found the second pilot," he said. "The planes were flying too high to be shot down."

The U.S. military lost contact with two Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet aircraft in Iraq on Monday night, a statement said. The planes were from the USS Carl Vinson, the military said.

A heavy sandstorm and lightning hit central Iraq on Monday night.

[iso]

Prayers for missing pilot...families of both and any others involved.

[SkyPilot]

The media will be upset this take the Abu Gahrib guilty verdict of Pvc Englund off the headlines for 2 minutes.

[Joe Brower]

FYI.

[rabidralph]

Some F/A-18 models have just one pilot, while others have two crew members.

" Two versions of the Super Hornet are currently in production for the U.S. Navy: the single-seat E model and the two-seat F model."--Taken from the Boeing site. Various pictures of these wonderful jets.

Prayers for our brave pilots and all in harm's way.

[Junior]

They collided. It's about the only way that two aircraft could suddenly up and disappear without making a distress call.

[Calpernia]

The U.S. military found the body of an American pilot while searching Tuesday for two Marine fighter jets that disappeared while flying in support of operations in Iraq, the military said.

[b4its2late]

Wonder if they were too close..

[AndrewC]

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Prayer heavenward for the loved ones of this pilot. Further prayer that somehow the other(s) will be found alive. <><

[Dashing Dasher]

Ping for your list?

[La Enchiladita]

There's a pilot who went missing in Iraq in January 1991 and they haven't found him yet either... LCDR Michael Scott Speicher.

[Red6]

Not good.

Red6

[LibWhacker]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/05/04/military/12_46_415_3_05.txt

U.S. military finds body of one missing pilot, plus ejection seat

By: ROBERT BURNS - Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- One of two pilots whose Marine Corps fighter jets were reported missing in Iraq has been found, and investigators have concluded that their planes likely collided in the air, a senior defense official said Tuesday.

U.S. officials in Baghdad said the search was continuing.

At the Pentagon, an official with access to details of the search said an emergency beacon from one of the F/A-18 jets was detected on the ground about 15 miles southwest of Karbala, in south-central Iraq. The official discussed some details on condition of anonymity because the search is not finished.

A pilot's body was found in his ejection seat, some distance from other wreckage of his plane, another defense official said. The other aircraft crash site had not yet been found, the official said.

The F/A-18s were flying at an altitude of about 30,000 when communications with the pilots were lost, the official said.

There was one pilot in each of the single-seat jets, which had launched from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Monday. They were reported missing by U.S. military authorities on Monday evening.

The U.S. military said there was no indication of hostile fire in the area when contact was lost with the two warplanes.

The two F/A-18s were flying in support of coalition operations in Iraq, the military said.

[King Prout]

dang. prayers UP

ping your mil lists