An Air National Guard pilot ejected safely from his F-15D on Friday afternoon during a training flight when he found he could no longer control the fighter and was losing altitude, reports the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The two-seat version of the F-15 Eagle, which had just been cleared to fly recently following the Air Force-wide grounding of F-15 A-D models, crashed into the ocean about 1:37 p.m. The newspaper noted that the Hawaii ANG’s 199th Fighter Squadron still has seven of its 20—make that 19—F-15s grounded pending further review of the serious structural problems USAF has found in 162 Eagles. According to the newspaper, this is the first Loss of an F-15 by the 199th FS since it began flying Eagles in 1987. The Hawaii Air Guard stopped all training flights, but has kept its fighters on alert status for air defense missions.
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.