This article is about Strike Eagles, which did not make it until today - they were lost due to accidents or to enemy fire. Fortunately these occasions are few and far between. We give you descriptions about how these losses happened and sometimes we give you images as well.

F-15E Strike Eagles are currently not produced anymore. A total of 236 airframes were produced, out of which a total of 16 were destroyed, leaving a total of 220 airframes that are currently operational. The list below contains details about all losses.

There were more mishaps to the Strike Eagle fleet of course during the years, however we do not detail mishaps that resulted in repairable damage to any airframe.

We are constantly looking for opportunities to enhance this article with more info, so if you have any more information or better yet, photos of these losses which you want to share with us, please do not hesitate and drop us an email to: Ezt a címet a spamrobotok ellen védjük. Engedélyezd a Javascript használatát, hogy megtekinthesd. .

Airframe 87-0172

Crashed on Sep 16, 1991. Both crew survived.

The aircraft was flying a training mission when the loss occurred. The aircrew experienced a loss of control during maneuvering and were forced to eject at an altitude of 8000 feet AGL.

Serial Numbers » 87-0172 (1)

Airframe 87-0186

Crashed near Willow Growe, Johnston County, NC on Jun 4, 2003, 16:51 local time. Both crew survived.

The aircraft departed controlled flight due to a major flight control malfunction during a Basic Fighter Maneuvers ( BFM) training. As a result of improper depot level repair, the right stabilator stuck in a full 25-degree trailing edge up position, thus rendering the aircraft unrecoverable.

The pilot 1st Lt. Christopher Jackson and the instructor pilot, Maj. John Voorhees ejected safely at 9.080 feet MSL 35 miles north of Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC and landed in a wooden area suffering only minor injuries. The aircraft has been destoyed by ground impact and subsequent fire in an unpopulated area.

Serial Numbers » 87-0186 (2)

Airframe 87-0203

Crashed north of Thumrait, Oman on Sep 30, 1990. Both crew died.

The aircraft was flying a low-level training mission over the desert about 63 miles north of Thumrait, Oman in preparation for Operation Desert Storm. Due to sand dust floating in the air close to the ground, sand-pitted aircraft windscreen and three external fuel tanks (which was unusual to Strike Eagles at that time), the pilot made a mistake by visually judging aircraft altitude that would have been necessary for performing a split-S maneuver. At the bottom part of the split-S, when the aircraft's nose was already pointing upwards (with the stick being pulled back fully) the aircraft's tail touched the ground (creating a fifty-foot trail of burned sand in the desert) resulting in a crash. Both crew, pilot Maj. Peter S. Hook and WSO Capt. James B. "Boo Boo" Poulet lost their lives.

Airframe 88-1689

Combat loss during Operation Desert Storm near Basrah, Iraq on Jan 16, 1991. Both crew died.

The pilot, Maj. Thomas F. "Teek" Koritz and the WSO, Lt.Col. Donnie R. "Chief Dimpled Balls" Holland was on a mission attacking a heavily defended petroleum, oil and lubricant site near Basrah, Iraq. The AAA fire was very heavy and the aircraft crashed into the ground during the final attack run. No ejection was attampted. It is not clear if the aircraft downed because of the pilot's maneuver trying to evade heavy enemy fire or because the aircraft was actually hit by enemy fire, but most probably the latter.

Airframe 88-1692

Combat loss during Operation Desert Storm near Al Quaim, Iraq on Jan 18, 1991. Both crew survived.

The pilot, Col. Dave Eberly and the WSO, Maj. Tom Griffith was on a mission attacking Scud sites in Western Iraq when an SA-2 SAM hit their aircraft. They immediately ejected and landed in enemy territory with non-serious injuries. Due to inproper organization and procedures, SAR efforts were not made to recover them for two days, after which the downed crew has been captured and imprisoned till the end of the war.

Airframe 88-1694

Combat loss during Operation Iraqi Freedom near Tikrit, Iraq on Apr 7, 2003. Both crew died.

The pilot, Capt. Eric "Boot" Das and the WSO, Maj. William R. "Salty" Watkins III was on a combat mission near Tikrit, Iraq, when their airplane was probably hit by AAA fire and crashed.

Serial Numbers » 88-1694 (1)

Airframe 88-1701

Crashed near Callaway, Virginia, USA on May 6, 2004, 17:10 local time. Both crew survived.

The aircraft was in a low level training flight in a two-ship formation over a rural countryside when one of the engines caught fire in one of the jets at an altitude of 700 feet AGL. The pilot, Capt. Darren P. "Bam Bam" Wees and the WSO, Capt. Daniel C. Spier immediately ejected from the aircraft and landed safely in a forest without any injuries. The aircraft crashed near a populated area, but caused no civilian injuries or property damage.
Investigators determined that the cause of the mishap was ingestion of a large black vulture that led to a catastrophic failure of the aircraft's right engine and started a fire. Contributing factors to the accident included damage to multiple control and mechanical systems rendering the aircraft uncontrollable, and the flight leader's task misprioritization when prior to the mishap he directed the mishap aircraft's crew to join his aircraft in formation at low level, instead of initiating a climb to avoid a known bird-strike hazard area.

Airframe 89-0479

Crashed Northeast of Las Vegas, Mevada, USA on Aug 10, 1992. Both crew died.

The pilot, Maj. Bruce "Phoid" Netardus and the WSO, Lt.Col. Wendell "Sheik" Johnson were on a training mission when their aircraft crashed due to a loss of control during maneuvering. When they saw the terrain, the aircrew initiated ejection at an altitude of 41 feet AGL. The ejection was unsuccesful however.

Airframe 89-0491

Crashed near Dare County Bomb Range, North-Carolina, USA on Jul 11, 1997. Both crew survived.

Instructor Maj. Pete Whelan and student Capt. Ramiro Martinez were on a training mission with DBU-33 training munitions approx. 10 miles north of Dare County Bombing Range, when sensors indicated fire in the engines. Automatic fire extinguishers were immediately engaged, but more and more malfunctions got indicated, forcing the crew to eject from the F-15E at an altitude of 2800 feet AGL.

They landed in a lightly forested area and suffered only minor injuries, while the aircraft crashed into Alligator River.

Serial Numbers » 89-0491 (1)

Airframe 89-0497

Crashed near McDermott State Airport, Oregon, USA on Oct 21, 1998. Both crew died.

The pilot, Lt. Col. William E. Morel III and the instructor WSO, Capt. Jeffrey K. "Flounder" Fahnlander were part of a formation flying a night training mission for surface attack tactics. The exercise involved low altitude night reactions to simulate enemy threats.

According to the accident board, the crew became spatially disoriented. During a simulated surface-to-air missile attack, Morel and Fahnlander unknowingly flew their airplane to a nose low position, outside the limits of their terrain-following radar. The position of the airplane prevented the TFR from arming and providing automatic fly-up protection. Visual cockpit warnings may have been missed by the crew. When the "low altitude" voice warning sounded, it was too late to recover from the steep dive.

Airframe 89-0504

Crashed over the Atlantic Ocean on Apr 18, 1995. Pilot survived, WSO died.

The aircraft crashed during training mission. The pilot, Capt. Brian Udell and the WSO, Capt. Dennis White were participating in a night air-to-air combat exercise, when the aircraft's HUD malfunctioned and presented false attitude information to the pilot. Based on the HUD information Capt. Udell thought they were in a banked turn while in reality the aircraft accelerated downwards in a steep dive. Capt. Udell realized the HUD malfunction seconds before the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and initiated a high speed ejection at 780 mph at low altitude (4500 feet AGL). Capt. White immediately died during the ejection, while Capt. Udell suffered severe injuries but survived.

For a detailed story about this crash, see article Back in the Saddle.

Serial Numbers » 89-0504 (1)

Airframe 90-0231

Combat loss during Operation Enduring Freedom near Nawur, Afghanistan on Jul 18, 2009. Both crew died.

The pilot, Capt. Mark R. "Pitbull" McDowell and the WSO,  Capt. Thomas J. "Lag" Gramith were on a combat mission in support of coalition operations when their aircraft went down. It was the first time an Air Force fighter crashed in Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.

A team of U.S. and coalition forces where immediately responded to the crash site, secured it and recovered the Airmen. Air Combat Command officials released the results of the investigation on Dec 1, 2009. The report stated the flight lead WSO's incorrect assessment of a training target's elevation led to the crash.

The flight of two F-15E's were near the end of a night CAS sortie when they got permission to practice high-angle strafing runs over a dry lake bed while wearing night-vision goggles in low illumination. The planes wouldn’t fire rounds, but would practice approaches and targeting. The flight lead incorrectly assessed the target's altitude as 4,800 feet above sea level. The target was actually at 10,200 feet. Neither crew recognized the 5,400-foot discrepancy. The flight lead flew the first practice strafing attack, but discontinued the approach because his angle of attack was too shallow. The mishap crew began their attack and impacted the ground 10 seconds later. No attempt to pull out of the attack was made, and neither the pilot nor the WSO attempted to eject.

The board found five factors significantly contributed to the mishap: misperception of the operational conditions in the target area; an erroneous expectation for a typical night strafing attack; inexperience by the flight lead and the mishap crew at executing night strafing; channelized attention; and an improper cross check during the attack.

In the aftermath of the accident, Air Combat Command is reviewing training procedures for similar strafing runs, said Brig. Gen. Harry D. Polumbo, president of the accident investigation board.

Serial Numbers » 90-0231 (5)

Airframe 91-0304

Combat loss during Operation Odyssey Dawn near Benghazi, Libya on Mar 21, 2011, 21:30 GMT. Both crew survived.

The aircraft crash landed near Benghazi while flying a mission in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn. Remains of the aircraft were later destroyed so critical systems information and equipment could not be salvaged by foreign forces.

Both crew members (pilot Maj. Kenneth "Meso" Harney and WSO Capt. Tyler "Mask" Stark) ejected safely and landed East from Benghazi, near Bu Mariem, but were separated from each other because they ejected at high altitudes thus ending up in different areas. The pilot was found and temporarily hosted by Lybian rebels who turned out to be very friendly and who welcomed NATO bombing against military targets of the Quadhafi regime. After treating his injuries, the rebels handed Maj. Harney over to US military units. Capt. Stark was picked up by a US Marines MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft dispatched from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, about 100 miles off the coast of Libya, during a coordinated CSAR effort.

Both aircrew sustained minor injuries and were safely transported back to US miltary units. They returned to their unit at RAF Lakenheath on 7th April, 2011.

The aircraft, based at RAF Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Italy's Aviano Air Base in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn at the time of the incident. Safety Investigation into F-15E Crash Completed. An Air Force safety investigation board has concluded its look into the F-15E that crashed in Libya on March 21.

USAFE officials released the results of their investigation on 13th December, 2011. At the conclusion of the investigation, the board president, Col. Scott Shapiro, USAFE Chief of Strategic Airlift Capabilities, found clear and convincing evidence that the cause of the mishap was the aircraft's sudden departure from controlled flight because it exceeded the critical angle of attack during an Air Force-approved combat maneuver. Other contributing factors to this accident include the pilot conducting an AF-wide acceptable maneuver for the F-15E at a previously untested altitude and lateral asymmetry (unbalanced aircraft).

According to Stars and Stripes, the right wing of the jet was supporting at least 1,000 pounds more than the left, while the maneuver has been performed over 30,000 feet. The F-15E was about to drop a bomb on a ground target. During the attack the jet was carrying 4 bombs on the right side and 3 bombs on the left, but due to software anomalies the bomb to be dropped was selected from the left side. Additionally the crew also radioed that the right external fuel tank didn't appear to be emptying into the engine properly, causing further weight imbalance due to unequalized fuel weight distribution. The situation deteriorated rapidly after the pilot dropped his bomb. When the aircraft was turning away from the target, halfway into the maneuver it went into an uncontrollable flat spin. The crew had no other choice but to eject, which they did. According to crash photos the aircraft hit the ground in a flat spin at a relatively low forward speed. The investigation board repeatedly used a flight simulator with the same conditions and got the same result - an uncontrollable aircraft. But, following the service's flight guidance to pilots, the pilot believed his aircraft was capable of making a standard maneuver away from his bombing run, Shapiro said, stating that he didn't believe the pilot was at fault.

Note that while the airframe wore the markings of the 492nd FS "Madhatters", the aircrew that flew her were from the 494th FS "Black Panthers".

Serial Numbers » 91-0304 (7)

Airframe 96-0203

Crashed at RAF Lakenheath, UK on Sep 12, 2000, 18:39 local time.

The pilot, Capt. Rex Ayers and the WSO, Capt. Don Jones were returning to RAF Lakenheath from a Green Flag exercise. During landing, 1.180 feet after touchdown the left main tyre blew out and the left main gear strut failed, because the left main gear was oriented perpendicular to the aircraft flight path after gear extension. The aircraft immediately steered to left, departed the runway and wrecked. The forward section of the fuselage with the two cockpits separated from the rest of the aircraft. Aircrew was rescued, though the WSO suffered severe injuries on his left arm.

Due to severe damage the airframe was written off. It was however transferred to the US, where it was rebuilt in Boeing's Logistics Support Systems facility at Williams Gateway Airport, Mesa, Arizona in 2005. The airframe fuselage was mated with a converted F-15B nose section and the whole (non-flying) aircraft now serves as an armament load trainer (designation TFE-24) at Sheppard AFB, Texas (see photos below).

As a result of this near-tragic mishap, some changes were applied to T.O. 1F-15E-1CL checklist and pilots awareness of this danger has been increased. The aircrew suffering the mishap had no idea anything was wrong, since there were no in-cockpit indications that a wheel is cocked - there were three green lights, just as if everything were normal. After having touched down, they experienced a huge drag on the left side for an unknown reason.

Said checklist before the mishap said something like this: any time there is any abnormal event during the gear retraction sequence (after takeoff), the aircrew is allowed to cycle the gear as they see fit in an attempt to achieve a normal retraction. And after retraction the aircrew is allowed to continue the mission.

This, however, has been changed after the mishap.

One of the things the after-mishap investigation determined was that the link breakage may have occurred during abnormal gear retraction (after takeoff) - that the link would have been fine if the aircrew had simply put the gear back down and come back home. But the act of cycling the gear caused the link to break, and thus the follow-on cocked wheel scenario.

The new checklist says that if the gear retracts abnormally when the aircrew puts the handle up, they have to put the gear back down and have another jet come look them over and confirm the position of the gear. If everything is ok then the aircrew is allowed to put the gear up one more time. If that doesn't work normally, they have to return to base.

As far as how to handle the situation if there IS a cocked main gear, a change to the checklist says something like this: the aircrew will hold that wing up and expect a tyre failure with a lot of drag on that side.

For a detailed story of this accident, see our article: Airborne Again.

Unknown Airframe #1

An F-15E (serial number unknown) crashed due to an accident at 09:06 a.m. MST on March 28, 2012, approximately 15 miles outside a base in Southwest Asia. The pilot, Capt. Francis D. "Piston" Imlay, 31, of Vacaville, California died from his injuries. The WSO suffered minor injuries only. The jet belonged to the 366th Fighter Wing "Gunfighters" deployed from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, but it was not combat related. The immediate cause was that the pilot apparently lost control of the jet.

For more details, see our article: Info on F-15E Crash in Southwest Asia. We continuously update this article when new info are available.

Unknown Airframe #2

An F-15E (serial number unknown) crashed on a routine training mission in the Middle East on May 3, 2012. Both crew members ejected safely. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

For more details, see our article: Info on Second F-15E Crash in 2012. We continuously update this article when new info are available.

Sources

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