Simple. Engine suddenly stops working. Pilot pulls jet into vertical assent and then ejects when it stalls. Jet then falls vertically to the ground.
“Simple. Engine suddenly stops working. Pilot pulls jet into vertical assent and then ejects when it stalls. Jet then falls vertically to the ground.”
Not so simple. I’ve never heard of a pilot responding to an engine failure by pulling the nose up, stalling, and then ejecting. And this failure would have needed to kill two engines, which would be catastrophic.
Well, considering the F-15 has two engines, this is a bit less likely - unless a catastrophic blade failure took out the other engine as well. Would have to be something affecting both at once somehow, a flock of birds (I doubt they were that low) or some sort of fuel contamination.