US Air Force F-15 Jet crashes into North Sea, Pilot Missing

A US Air Force F-15C Eagle fighter jet crashed into the North Sea off the British coast on Monday with the pilot reported missing.

The incident was confirmed in a Tweet by the US Air Force which said that a search operation is now underway to ascertain the status of the pilot.

Later, the USAF said in a statement: "The aircraft was from the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Leakenheath, United Kingdom. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was on a routine training mission with one pilot on board.

"The cause of the crash as well as the status of the pilot are unknown at this time and UK Search and Rescue have been called to support."

RAF Lakenheath had shared photographs of three F-15 fighter jets on its social media account.

This is the third  US Air Force fighter jet crash in about a month. 

An F-22 aircraft crashed after a fly-past to honor COVID-19 first responders on May 15 at the Elgin AFB, Florida on May 15 followed by a F-35 jet crash at the same location on May 20. The pilots bailed out and were rescued in both the incidents.