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US military suspects two F-18s collided over Iraq
My Way News ^
| May 3, 2005 (5:01 PM (ET))
| Reuters
Posted on 05/04/2005 5:57:17 AM PDT by tongue-tied
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military has found the body of the pilot of one of two Marine Corps jets that crashed in Iraq and believes the warplanes may have collided in mid-air, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The U.S. military lost contact with the two Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet aircraft in Iraq on Monday night, a military statement said. The planes were flying from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the military said.
In Washington, defense officials said they suspected the two fighters collided in mid-air at 30,000 feet, but no final conclusion had been reached.
One official, who asked not to be identified, said an emergency beacon from one of the planes was located on the ground about 25 km (15.53 miles) southwest of Kerbala....
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.myway.com ...
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aviators; fa18; fa18hornet; marines; military; navy; planecrash; usmc; usn; usscarlvinson; vmfa323; wot
"We have not found the second pilot," a military spokesman said in Baghdad. "The planes were flying too high to be shot down."
A heavy sandstorm and lightning hit central Iraq on Monday night.
These pilots were from the Marine squadron on board. Obviously everyone is pretty shaken up. As any sailor can attest to, this is one of the most dangerous periods during a deployment. Tragically, these two fine Marines will never finish the second half.
To: tongue-tied
Here's what we should do:
Start a rumor that the second pilot is being held in a house somewhere by a friendly family. The terrorists will try to get to him to hold him hostage. Pounce on them when they show up. Rinse. Repeat.
2
posted on
05/04/2005 5:59:38 AM PDT
by
AppyPappy
(If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
To: tongue-tied
If they collided at 30,000 feet and didn't have the ability or time to react properly, it must have been a terrible collision.
3
posted on
05/04/2005 6:00:22 AM PDT
by
Loud Mime
(Liberals believe in their good; a good that is void of honesty and character)
To: Loud Mime
It appears that all the time they had to do was to pull the ejection handle.
4
posted on
05/04/2005 6:11:00 AM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: Loud Mime
And it was also dark.
There has been some pretty bad weather recently; one of our beach dets described a 'mud storm'. It started as a sand storm, but when the rain hit along with the dust and wind, there was basically mud flying around.
To: tongue-tied
USS Carl Vincent CVN-70
6
posted on
05/04/2005 6:15:42 AM PDT
by
Samurai_Jack
(ride out and confront the evil!)
To: Samurai_Jack
7
posted on
05/04/2005 6:17:38 AM PDT
by
Samurai_Jack
(ride out and confront the evil!)
To: Samurai_Jack
USS Carl Vinson...not Vincent.
http://www.cvn70.navy.mil/ is the official site for the ship.
http://www.lemoore.navy.mil/cvw-9/index.html is the Air Wing.
http://www.lemoore.navy.mil/cvw-9/vmfa323.htm for the squadron. I imagine the site is either down or busy, but condolences could perhaps be left there for both the families and the Death Rattler survivors.
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