HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and other UK government and civilian organisations and the US military have deployed some of their assets to the North Sea off the Northern English coast in response to the fatal crash of a US Air Force jet fighter aircraft on Monday, June 15.
The incident occurred when the aircraft, an F-15 Eagle assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing based at Lakenheath in Suffolk, crashed into the water off Flamborough Head in Yorkshire at 09:40 local time on Monday while on a routine training mission.
An HM Coastguard helicopter and two all-weather lifeboats from the Bridlington and Scarborough RNLI stations were subsequently despatched to assist other vessels in the effort to locate the missing aircraft and its pilot.
Coastguard teams found the wreckage some 74 nautical miles off the coast within hours of the crash. The body of the deceased pilot was located shortly afterward as confirmed by senior US Air Force officials at 18:20 on Monday.
The coastguard said that it has begun an operation to recover the wreckage and the victim's body from the water.
The cause of the incident remains unknown.
