Two F-15 Fighter Jets Collide Over Gulf of Mexico

Jenny Albano

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A F-15C Fighter Pilot has died after a mid-air collision on Wednesday, February 20. The other pilot is in good condition at Eglin Air Force Base Hospital in Florida. The pilots ejected over the Gulf of Mexico and were later rescued.

The planes crashed off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, just south of Tyndall Air Force Base and the planes were F-15C Eagles single-seaters so the two pilots were the only people involved. The planes were doing a training exercise teaching them maneuvers and tactics.

The cause of the collision was not immediately determined, but the Air Force will be investigating. Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless said a Coast Guard rescue jet located one pilot and radioed the location to a fishing vessel, which picked him up. A Coast Guard helicopter then hoisted the pilot off the vessel.

The rescued pilot told rescuers that he saw the other pilot eject, but lost sight of him in the clouds. The pilot told officials the approximate location for the second pilot, who was eventually found by a Coast Guard helicopter. Debris from the planes have not been found.

The Air Force grounded all of its F-15s -- nearly 700 -- after the catastrophic failure of an F-15C during a routine training flight in Missouri in November. The pilot safely ejected. Most were back in service by January, but others were grounded indefinitely after defects were found.