Pilot is killed as US F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet explodes in 'massive fireball' and crashes on British farm as it began its journey home after finishing tour of duty in Syria
F/A-18 crashed in farmland five miles from US airbase in Redmere, Suffolk
The as yet unidentified pilot died after ejecting, landing 'a mile' from the jet
Cause of the crash unknown but believed the plane had only just taken off
Reports claim jet was one of six returning to US after bombing ISIS in Syria
ByEuan McLelland For MailOnline
Published: 10:42 GMT, 21 October 2015 | Updated: 15:35 GMT, 21 October 2015
A US fighter jet has crashed in a 'massive fireball' shortly after taking off from an RAF base in Suffolk. The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was flying out of RAF Lakenheath when it came down in farmland in Redmere, near Shippea Hill, five miles north-west of the air base over the Cambridgeshire border.
The as yet unidentified pilot died after ejecting from the plane, police confirmed. Witnesses claim seeing emergency service personnel gathered around a parachute roughly 'a mile-and-a-half' from where the jet came down. Police, fire and ambulance crews remain at the scene near Ely, after a member of the public raised the alarm at 10.30am this morning.
The jet was one of six returning to the US via the UK after combat deployment in the Syria, where it had taken part in a bombing campaign against ISIS.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3282653/US-air-force-fighter-jet-crashes-taking-RAF-Lakenheath-Suffolk.html#ixzz3pDiFhqVT
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