Search teams are continuing their efforts Thursday to find a pilot who went missing after an F-15 fighter jet crashed in a remote, heavily wooded area of western Virginia, said State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller.
The ground search had been suspended around midnight Wednesday, but resumed very early Thursday.
The single-engine jet crashed around 9 a.m. Wednesday near the George Washington National Forest in Augusta County as the pilot headed to New Orleans for radar installation as part of routine maintenance.
The pilot, who was experienced, reported an inflight emergency and then lost radio contact, authorities said. The pilot and jet were with the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, officials there said.
Officials haven't yet said what caused the accident or whether the pilot ejected.
The plane was flying about 30,000 to 40,000 feet -- "pretty high" -- when the pilot reported the emergency, said Col. James Keefe during a news conference Wednesday in Westfield, Massachusetts.
Pilots are trained to release equipment when ejecting, Keefe said, so it was likely the pilot did not have a radio.
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There were no munitions on board the jet at the time of the crash.
The crash caused a deep crater and a large debris field in a heavily wooded but level area adjacent to a mountain in the George Washington National Forest, officials said.
Search efforts are centered around the southeast side of Mount Crawford, Virginia. Rescue efforts include more than nine aircraft. The guard said specially equipped HC-130 aircraft assigned to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia began searching at 3 a.m. Thursday.
The 104th Fighter Wing also has 16 members in Virginia securing the site and coordinating rescue efforts.
F-15s are maneuverable tactical fighters that can reach speeds up to 1,875 mph, according to the Air Force website. The F-15C Eagle entered the Air Force inventory in 1979 and costs nearly $30 million, the website says. The Air Force has nearly 250 F-15s.
Several F-15s have crashed over the past few years in various states. In at least one, the pilot ejected safely. Causes included failure of a support structure for the jet and pilot error.
