Air Force Jet Crashes In Afghanistan

KABUL — A U.S. military F-15E fighter jet crashed in Afghanistan early Saturday, killing two crew members, a U.S. military spokesman said.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Greg Julian said a second fighter aircraft traveling with the jet that went down saw no evidence of enemy fire.

No fighter jets have crashed in Afghanistan in years. Militants are able to shoot down helicopters with rockets, but are not known to have the anti-aircraft weaponry necessary to bring down a high-flying jet.

The military says the F-15E crashed in eastern Afghanistan at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday Kabul time. The military did not immediately say where in Afghanistan the jet crashed. Many areas of eastern Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan, are filled with craggy mountains.

The crash will be investigated by a board of officers, the military said.

Comments

[CaptD]

All this chat is useless guess work until more facts are known...

HP should post some more facts so that everyone will know what caused the loss of the aircraft AND what happened to the CREW!

[Ergon]

For those speculating on the F-15's structural defects http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/f15crash.asp
shows the newer F-15 E's don't have the same defective longerons as were found on the older models, and they were returned to active service in 2008.

[WindySailor]

Late at night, rugged terrain. Likely hit a mountain.

[CarolinaDem]

This is really suspicious. That plane is all but invulnerable except to missiles, its two-man crew rules out most kinds of pilot failure and the wingman saw nothing. WTF? Meteorite~!?

[Veeve]

Actually, we've apparently found structural failures on F-15s and a reccomendation was made to replace the fleet with F-22s. I don't know how widespread it is or whether it is propoganda coming from the pro F-22 folks in the Pentagon.

[JillScumber]

Believe me, the F22 crowd will stop at nothing to lie their way into more of this unneeded plane. But yes, the F15 is vulnerable to structural failures, but those tend to be in models earlier than the E. As for two crew reducing chances of pilot error--true, sort of, statistically, but they can still make some horrendous mistakes together. You need to be alert and not be lulled by all the plane does for you. Hitting a mountain aint difficult if you are low enough.

[ThinkCreeps]

Even in the 21st century, the old-fashioned ground remains capable of rising up and smiting unwary aviators with a fearful blow.

[WakeUpAmerica08]

Humm... wonder if there was any debris. You know how when planes crash - they vanish. Oh... my mistake - ONLY on 9/11/2001. Silly me.

[Palemoon]

I'd be curious to know how this went down, with both pilots aboard, obviously no attempt to eject or even time enough for radio communication.

I'm guessing it'll be ruled "controlled flight into ground", basically probably flew into a hill or something.

[MajorKong]

Very possible. An F-15E is a strike aircraft so they may have been flying low to the ground. That's some very difficult terrain over there.

[JillScumber]

yes, they were possibly looking for varmits.

[madtom]

War's good business, so give your son,
But I'd rather have my country die for me!

[abouttime]

Just buy another one.
War Incorporated loeves it when this happens.
That's why we have war.
Greed and profits for the Corporates!

[Michaela1976]

Does anyone know the goal of being in Afghanistan at this point ? How do you "train" a country where 10 % are literate?

AQ is moving into Somalia which should make future pirate missions more deadly. Are we going to go to war in every country where AQ goes ?

[lynchie]

Just a note the literacy rate in Afghanistan is 28% (check wikepedia) which means that 72% are able to read and write. Your point is well taken. There is no training it is about the oil in nearby countries and the pipeline. Just like the trip to Ghana it is about their oil.

If we want to rid the world of Obama great, I support it and will write a check to help do it. Having our forces in Afghanistan just provides targets for the Taliban and Al Quaeda.

[maryloo]

Ah Wikipedia, well then you must be right.

[unite4change]

Lynchie, did you feel the same when Bush sent them over there?

[audadvnc]

So an Air Force crew crashes in between bombings of weddings and villages. And you want my sympathy?

[jsarets]

Don't blame the pilots. They go wherever they're told to go without question, and that's the way it should be. Blame the people who issue their orders.

The framers believed that the chain of command should terminate with civilian political leadership. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our military blunders occur when the political arm of the Pentagon overrules the uniformed military leadership.

[toppermost]

you think we should stop pursuing AQ and the taliban?

[jsarets]

Why are we lumping the two together?

Taliban is to al Qaeda as GOP is to KKK.

[hrholmes]

*yawn* so?

[PowerPridePinstripes]

wow... classy reply!

[Ergon]

No sympathy for the machine

[Mogamboguru]

Very strange occurence.

This was no technical defect, in which case the crew could have bailed out in time by their ejection-seats.

The jet either was shot doewn, ran into the ground or crashed with another aircraft.

[Ergon]

My thoughts exactly

[PublicusOrator]

Without any knowledge the poster idiots know what happened. Amazing.

[jackq]

This is very sad when people get into numbers game and forget that real people are getting killed and thousands of families are suffering.

[rybo1]

Good! And, I hope many more of these murderers from the sky, who seldom see the horror that they spew upon humanity, will also go down. If anyone thinks that the Obama regime is any different, except, for image, they´d better think twice and re-evaluate.

[blakestone]

yeah, you should be smacked...

[JulieSA]

They're bombing the guys who throw acid in the faces of schoolgirls for the crime of attending school.

AQ and the Taliban are "spewing horror upon humanity".

As a feminist, I heartily approve of these bombs. Perhaps you don't care for human rights, but that flight crew gave their lives fighting for them.

[holeybuybull]

Right!!! Our presence in Afghanistan is predicated on being there "for the children". As a concerned feminist, perhaps you should be flying one of these jets and bombing civilians from altitude - for the children.

[ModernTimes1]

Time to bring the fight to the Taliban and foreign Jihadists. They seem to be especially terrified of drones. Deploy more, in cooperation with special ops teams to finish off whoever is left.