F-15 Fighter Jet Crashes In Indiana Field; Pilot Parachutes Safely, No Injuries On Ground

Wednesday, May 30th 2007, 5:07 pm

By: News On 6

VINCENNES, Ind. (AP) _ An F-15 fighter jet on a training mission crashed Wednesday in a farm field, authorities said. The pilot parachuted to safety, the military said, and no injuries were reported on the ground.

The pilot apparently was able to walk to a police officer and was taken to Vincennes Hospital to be checked, said Capt. Jim Jensen with the Indiana Air National Guard.

Col. Greg Champagne of the Missouri Air National Guard said that the pilot's name was not being released but that the man, who parachuted to the ground, was in good condition.

Missouri National Guard Capt. Tamara Spicer said the pilot was being released from the hospital after treatment for minor injuries Wednesday, but was unsure whether he had been released as mid-afternoon.

``He's an experienced pilot _ flying over 15 years,'' Champagne said during a news conference at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, where the pilot's unit, the 131st Fighter Wing, is headquartered.

The jet and three other F-15s left St. Louis on Wednesday morning to fly practice maneuvers with four F-16 jets from the Indiana Air National Guard's 181st Fighter Wing, based in Terre Haute, the Guard said. No other aircraft were damaged when the fighter went down at 9:49 a.m. CDT just outside Vincennes, in southwestern Indiana.

Dale McCrary, who lives about a mile away, said he and his son saw the plane spiral to the ground. They drove to the crash site, where they saw the plane's tail sticking up from the ground and the pilot on his back near the plane's windshield.

``He was kind of white-ish looking,'' McCrary said. ``Just all shook up.''

Smoke was visible several hours after the crash in a field between two farm houses and near large power lines. No live munitions were on the plane, but some of the burning material could be hazardous, so officials urged people to stay clear of the area, said Col. Chris Colbert, vice commander of the 181st Fighter Wing, which was helping investigate.

By Wednesday afternoon, investigators had not been able to get close to the smoldering wreckage, which was mostly below ground, Colbert said.

Witness Willie Mayberry told Evansville television station WFIE that he saw two jets dogfighting before the crash.

``I saw one of them make a loop and start to lose altitude,'' he said. ``Then all of a sudden I saw the pilot eject, the seat separated from him and I saw the parachute open. Then all of a sudden, the jet hit the ground. I saw a billow of black smoke and then a big old ball of fire.''

The plane was built in 1978, but its age was not suspected as a cause of the accident, said Champagne, the Missouri Guard spokesman. A preliminary report was expected in about 30 days, he said.

Three years ago, two F-16 fighter jets from the 181st Fighter Wing collided during routine training near the Indiana-Illinois state line. One of the pilots was killed, and the second parachuted to safety. In July 2001, an F-16 from the same fighter wing crashed near Parkersburg, Ill., about 70 miles southwest of Terre Haute; the pilot ejected safely.

Vincennes, 120 miles southwest of Indianapolis, has about 19,000 residents.