Wednesday- a F-15 fighter jet crashes in western Virginia.

[whitehall]

If a F-15 crashed in Iraq it would be news for several days but an Air N.G. F-15 from Mass. crashing in Virginia didn't make the mainstream media for more than a couple of seconds. Was there a news blackout? It is it "normal" for a single fighter jet to fly from Mass. to Louisiana? As of Wed. the pilot was missing.

 

[Tom Sweetnam]

A flight like that isn't unusual at all. They found the pilot -he was killed. We don't hear about most military aviation accidents unless they're spectacular. During its tenure as the navy's top fighter, an F-14 Tomcat was lost due to operational accidents on average 70 times a year. Most of the pilots survived however, so the vast majority of such losses aren't even considered newsworthy. That's one navy aircraft lost more than once a week. How many do you ever remember hearing about?

 

[depotoo]

I'm sad to hear about the pilot.