US pilot returning from Bahrain dies in crash

The pilot of a US Marine fighter jet was killed yesterday on his return from Bahrain, when it crashed on farmland after taking off from a US Air Force (USAF) base in eastern England, officials said.

The jet was one of six aircraft returning to Miramar from Bahrain when it crashed after taking off from RAF Lakenheath, a statement from the air base said.

The US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet, part of the Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 232 known as “Red Devils” based at Miramar in California, came down in Redmere near Ely, a rural area about 70 miles (110 km) north of London.

"Sadly, we can now confirm that the pilot of the crashed F-18 has died," the US embassy in London said on its Twitter website.

The other five were diverted to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland where they landed safely and the cause of the crash was as yet unknown, the statement added.

Local media reports said the planes were returning to the United States after being involved in the bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, but a Lakenheath spokesman said he was unable to confirm this.

Witnesses report that they saw an explosion in the air before the aircraft came down.

One eye witness has paid tribute to the pilot who died in the crash. They told local media that he steered the aircraft away from 20 houses to prevent others from being injured.

The crash happened four miles north west of the RAF Mildenhall base in Suffolk. Patrick Turner, 72, who lives a few hundred yards from the scene, said: "There was a hell of a bang when it hit the ground. It shook all of the houses. It was so loud you could not hear yourself speak.

“I went outside and saw the plane - it was a huge fireball.”

Lakenheath, home to Europe's only F-15 fighter wing, is the largest USAF-operated base in England with 4,500 active-duty military personnel and 2,000 British and US civilians, according to its website.

Last year, four crew on board a US Pave Hawk helicopter based at Lakenheath were killed when their aircraft crashed during a training exercise in a rural area on the north Norfolk coast.

In 2001, two single-seat F-15Cs from Lakenheath crashed while on a low-flying training mission over Scotland, killing both pilots.