F-15 accident report released

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va: Pilot error caused the Feb. 20 crash of two Eglin-based F-15C Eagles off the coast of Florida, according to an Air Combat Command accident investigation board report released Aug. 28.

One pilot , 1st Lt. Ali Jivanjee, was killed in the mishap. The other pilot, Capt. Tucker Hamilton, ejected from his aircraft and sustained minor injuries that required no treatment. Both aircraft, totaling $83.3 million, were assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing.

According to the AIB report, both pilots failed to clear their flight paths and failed to anticipate their impending mid-air collision.

Other possible contributing factors investigated by the board included a loss of flight proficiency during the November 2007 - January 2008 stand-down of the F-15 A-D fleet, a lack of a pilot and integrated mission Operational Risk Management program and a lack of an integrated Training Rule program that identifies and informs squadron leaders and flight members of training rule violations. However, there was insufficient evidence to determine that any one of these particular factors or combination of these factors directly contributed to the mishap.

Investigators determined that maintenance and the airworthiness of the aircraft were not factors in the mishap.