USMC F18 down in UK

[Ranger]

Seems an F18 crashed this morning somewhere in the UK shortly after departure from Lakenheath. Callsign of the downed one Mazda43. Involved tanker fot the flight had a TCAS alert 8 miles ahead above and later a medivac helicopter was heard landing in a field and could not find the downed pilot yet.
Hope someone here has more?

Cheers,
Ranger

[Ranger]

update now, Crash is confirmed on Sky news. Seems to have happened south of Lakenheath while flight was waiting for the tanker to become airborne from Mildenhall. Pilot seems to have ejected.

Cheers,
Ranger

[Le Addeur noir]

According to FC the callsign may have been MAZDA43.

[frank kramer]

BBC gives the location as Redmere Farm, midway between Shippea Hill railway station and the hamlet of Littleport, a few miles west of Lakenheath (and northwest of Mildenhall):

52.450046, 0.404881

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-camb ... e-34593948

[frank kramer]

According to the BBC, Cambridgeshire Police now confirm that the pilot has been killed in the accident..

Live updates are published here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england ... e-34587671

[Le Addeur noir]

According to the BBC, Cambridgeshire Police now confirm that the pilot has been killed in the accident..

Live updates are published here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england ... e-34587671

This is not good news.

RIP

Semper Fi.

[Gerard]

In a message on MSF 165181/WT-00 is reported to be the aircraft involved.

[frank kramer]

Which would make it a VMFA-232 bird. In the EGUL-topic for the 17th, 6 WT-birds are mentioned as arriving there but WT-00 is not one of them. Were there more?

[Arjan]

4 more arrived later

[Gerard]

I understood that 4 more had arrived yesterday the 20th (165227/WT-10, 165192/WT-04, 165222/WT-07, 165181/WT-00).

[Piet Luijken]

ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- A Third Marine Aircraft Wing F/A-18C Hornet belonging to Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 232 stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar crashed in the vicinity of Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England at approximately 5:30 a.m. (EDT), today.

United Kingdom authorities have officially confirmed the death of the pilot, but it is unknown at this time if the pilot ejected from the single-seat aircraft.

The aircraft was transiting from Bahrain to Miramar in a flight of six aircraft when it crashed approximately six miles northwest of the airfield. The remaining five F/A-18C's safely diverted to RAF Lossiemouth. The United Kingdom Coast Guard is currently on the scene of the crash site and is in close coordination with U.S. military officials.

[Krazy]

I understood that 4 more had arrived yesterday the 20th (165227/WT-10, 165192/WT-04, 165222/WT-07, 165181/WT-00).

There were 10 in total:
165181/WT-00
165185/WT-01
165188/WT-02
165191/WT-03
165192/WT-04
165194/WT-05
165218/WT-06
165222/WT-07
165227/WT-10
165230/WT-11

Very sad situation. You finally get to go home from a warzone, and this happens

[Bennie]

Seems an F18 crashed this morning somewhere in the UK shortly after departure from Lakenheath. Callsign of the downed one Mazda43. Involved tanker fot the flight had a TCAS alert 8 miles ahead above and later a medivac helicopter was heard landing in a field and could not find the downed pilot yet.
Hope someone here has more?

Cheers,
Ranger

Is the TCAS alert (TA or RA?) that the tanker experienced related to the crash?

[Ranger]

The mentioned TCAS alert then was only reported as a fact that had happened in that time-frame.

Cheers,
Ranger