News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Search Resumes For Missing F-15s

Date: March 27, 2001

"March 27 —  The search resumed early Tuesday for two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets that mysteriously disappeared without a trace over the mountains of Scotland. Rescuers were becoming increasingly pessimistic that the two pilots could have survived after reports of an explosion. Also Monday, a U.S. Army turbo-prop plane crashed near Nuremberg, Germany, killing both occupants.       AIR FORCE OFFICIALS said it was highly unusual for two planes to go missing, so they surmised that the jets collided in midair over the Cairngorm mountains, Britain’s loftiest range.

       A search team was dispatched, including two Nimrod aircraft, three helicopters, two Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams and several civilian teams, but the team was called back Monday night because of darkness and weather conditions.

       U.S. and British military teams resumed the search at first light Tuesday.

       Officials at first held out hope that the pilots could have ejected to safety, but their hope changed to fear as the search continued. The officials were baffled that there were no reports of wreckage and said there was no sign of an emergency beacon, smoke or fire.

       “It is now dark, and there are snow showers at the top of the plateau, and it’s not the easiest weather in which to conduct a search,” Michael Mulford, a spokesman for Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) said, just before the operation was called off for the night.

       “What bothers us is not having got a beacon from either aircraft,” he said.

       President Bush asked 10,000 people at a speech in Billings, Mont., to pray for the four service members.

       “Before I begin ... I do want you all to join me in a moment of silent prayer for two soldiers, men who wore the uniform of America, who lost their lives in Germany today and two of our pilots who are missing over Great Britain,” he said.         FUEL FOR 3 HOURS

       NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski said the single-seat planes were on a routine training mission over the Scottish Highlands when contact was lost. The planes left the U.S. Lakenheath air base, 75 miles from London, at 12:30 p.m. local time heading toward Scotland on a low-fly exercise with enough fuel for three hours.


At 1:15 p.m., the fighters were on a routine switch between two military air traffic control points — one at RAF Leuchars, the other at RAF Lossiemouth — Mulford said. Radar and radio contact was lost during the call.

       “Subsequently someone rang up and said they had heard an explosion in the area,” Mulford said.         GOOD VISIBILITY

       With four peaks of more than 4,000 feet, including Ben Macdhui at 4,296, the Cairngorms are Britain’s tallest mountains.

       Weather Monday in the Cairngorms was cold and bright with good visibility and light southerly winds, the Meteorological Office said. But snow and sleet showers were beginning to develop Monday afternoon in the mountains, where temperatures near the mountain peaks are in the 20s.

       The large and powerful F-15, the U.S. Air Force’s most effective fighter, is a twin-engine machine used as a strike bomber and to shoot down enemy aircraft. The Air Force and the Air National Guard operate more than 1,000 of the jets.         CRASH IN GERMANY

       In Germany, meanwhile, an RC-12, a twin-propeller intelligence-gathering plane, crashed, killing both people on board, Pentagon officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

       The plane is used to detect, identify and precisely locate potentially hostile sources of communications, radars and other electronic signals.

       German state police said the plane crashed about seven miles east of Nuremberg."