Col. James Keefe, commander of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National guard announces last night the missing F-15C pilot remains have been found in the plane wreckage. Keefe announced the news at the Massachusetts Air National Guard in Westfield, home of the 104th Fighter Wing, where the pilot and jet were based. (AP Photo/The Republican, Dave Roback)
WESTFIELD (AP) — The pilot of an F-15 jet that crashed in remote Virginia mountains was killed, military officials said last night.
The pilot’s name is being withheld pending notification of family members and will be released when appropriate.
The pilot and jet were with the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we are doing all we can to support them during this very difficult time,” said Col. James Keefe, Commander, 104th Fighter Wing. “We ask that everyone respect the privacy of the family and allow them the time they need to grieve.”
Brigadier General Timothy P. Williams, adjutant General of the Virginia National Guard, left, and Brigadier General Robert Brooks, component commander of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, answer questions from members of the media after announcing that the pilot who had been missing from an F-15 jet that crashed near Deerfield, Va. was found dead yesterday. (AP Photo/The Staunton News Leader, Griffin Moores)
Keefe said the crash investigators were hampered by the terrain and the fact that fires were still burning yesterday at the crash site.
“On-scene crash investigators notified (the 104th) at 1700 Hours (5 p.m.) that the pilot was deceased, that the pilot did not survive the incident,” Keefe said at a press briefing held outside the gate of the base at Barnes Regional Airport at 10 p.m.
“Investigators were able to enter the crash site this afternoon,” Keefe said. “The pilot did not safely eject from the aircraft. The pilot had died as the result of the crash.”
The pilot had declared an in-flight emergency just before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. The F-15C Eagle crashed at approximately 9:05 a.m. Radio contact with the pilot was lost about 5 minutes earlier.
U.S. Army Sgt. David Adams, left, and a group of firefighters raise a long-range antenna outside the Deerfield Valley Volunteer Fire Department to help communicate with aircraft in the area on yesterday in Deerfield, Va. The pilot of an F-15 jet that crashed this week in remote Virginia mountains was killed, military officials said yesterday, bringing to a sad end an exhaustive two-day search involving more than 100 local, state and federal officials as well as volunteers. (AP Photo/The Staunton News Leader, Griffin Moores)
Keefe said that unit personnel had met with the pilot’s family prior to the press briefing.
“The family requested time to contact their extended family,” Keefe said. “We will not release the pilot’s name until Friday. We are supporting the family the best we can and we are supporting the members of the 104th, this is a very traumatic time.”
Keefe said that it will take several weeks to recover the wreckage of the aircraft and begin to determine the cause of the crash. The crash site is in the Washington National Forest near Deerfield Valley, Virginia. The crash site is between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea level.
“The site is very remote, very scheduled and heavily wooded,” Keefe said. “It could take three weeks or longer to determine the reason for the crash and why the pilot was unable to eject. Investigators are looking to the flight data recorder.”
Young members of the Civil Air Patrol watch a search helicopter take of at the Deerfield Valley Volunteer Fire Department in Deerfield yesterday. The pilot of an F-15 jet that crashed this week in remote Virginia mountains was killed, military officials said yesterday, bringing to a sad end an exhaustive two-day search involving more than 100 local, state and federal officials as well as volunteers. (AP Photo/The Staunton News Leader, Griffin Moores)
Keefe said 30 local, state and federal agencies, as well as civilian volunteers were involved in efforts to locate the missing pilot and secure the crash scene. The air-superiority fighter is equipped with classified technology.
“Today was a tough day for the Massachusetts Air National Guard,” Brig. Gen. Robert Brooks, Commander of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, told a news conference in Deerfield.
Brooks said rescuers found evidence at the crash site Thursday that the pilot did not eject. When asked for specifics, he said, “We just found evidence that the ejection seat was with the aircraft.”
(File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Brooks would not comment on whether the pilot’s remains had been found, but only said, “We bring every airman home.”
There were no munitions on the aircraft during the cross-country trip to the New Orleans Naval Air Station where the aircraft was being modified with the newer radar system.
Keefe said the pilot was operating the aircraft at high elevation, around 40,000 feet, to conserve fuel when the pilot declared an in-flight emergency and contact was lost.
F-15s are maneuverable tactical fighters that can reach speeds up to 1,875 mph, according to the Air Force website. The F-15C Eagle entered the Air Force inventory in 1979 and costs nearly $30 million, the website says. The Air Force has nearly 250 of them.
Keefe said the 104th flies the newest version of the F-15c introduced into the Air Force inventory in 1986.
The 104th Fighter Wing operates 18 F15-c models and two F-15 D models which are ground support fighter jets and which carry both a pilot and a weapons officer.
An official safety investigation board is being convened and the investigation into the crash is ongoing.
Several F-15s have crashed over the past few years in various states. In at least one, the pilot ejected safely. Causes included failure of a support structure for the jet and pilot error.
In a statement from Governor Deval L. Patrick said: “This is a very sad day for the Guard and for Massachusetts. Throughout the last couple of days, as we learned the circumstances of this accident, we held out hope that the pilot would be found and returned safely to his family. Our prayers and condolences are with his family, the Wing Command and all the Members of the Massachusetts National Guard.”
“I join with the men and women of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes in the feelings of senseless loss and profound sadness. The Barnestormers are a close knit group and are like part of the family of all of us in the greater Westfield area. When any part of that family is lost all of us mourn. My most sincere condolences to the pilot’s family, his co-workers, and fellow warriors. In war and in peace it is still a dangerous job that few do as well, or as proudly and professionally, as the members of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. God bless them all. Rest in Peace,” said Senator Don Humason (R-2nd Hampden & Hampshire District).
Associated Press writers Alan Suderman in Deerfield, Va., Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va., and Stephen Singer in Westfield contributed to this report.
