Air National Guard pilot safe after F-15D skids off Oregon runway
An F-15D Eagle fighter jet suffered an in-flight emergency and veered off the runway upon landing at Kingsley Field Monday afternoon, the Oregon Air National Guard said in a release Tuesday.
The jet was returning to Kingsley Field, home to the Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing in southern Oregon, at the end of a routine training mission when the emergency occurred, the wing said. Its pilot safely climbed out of the aircraft on the ground and was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
A photo posted to Twitter by Jim Hendren, a former Arkansas state senator and F-15 pilot, shows the jet partially submerged in a stream. A wing spokesperson confirmed the picture is authentic and said the wing is still in the process of recovering the jet from the water.
I've landed these before. Never like this. Glad pilots safe. pic.twitter.com/dcWtzN08SE
— Jim Hendren (@JimHendren1) May 16, 2023
An investigation into the incident is underway. The Air Force did not say whether it suspects pilot error or mechanical failure caused the accident.
The Air Force owns 18 F-15Ds, most of which belong to the Air National Guard, and more than 400 F-15s overall. At nearly 40 years old, the Air Force is in the process of retiring its C- and D-model planes to make way for the new F-15EX.
Forty-five F-15s have suffered major mishaps in the past 10 years — nearly five incidents for every 100,000 flight hours — including five jets that were destroyed and two airmen killed, according to Air Force data. Those mishaps, called Class A and B events, cause at least $600,000 in damages or result in death, disability or a destroyed aircraft.
Most recently, 1st Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen, 27, died in an F-15C crash while trying to intercept a simulated enemy aircraft in training off the coast of England in June 2020. Investigators determined he was disoriented by poor weather.