US Fighter Jet Crashes into Philippine Sea: Pilot Rescued

A US combat jet belonging to the aircraft career USS Ronald Reagan, has crashed into the sea northeast of the Philippines on Monday but its two pilot were safely rescued.
The aircraft, an F/A-18 Super Hornet, had a mechanical problem during routine operations over the Philippine Sea in the Western Pacific, the Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement.
The Navy said the aviators were immediately plucked from the water by a rescue aircraft and brought back to the ship and they are both in good condition.
In October, an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter, also assigned to the Ronald Reagan, crashed shortly after takeoff, injuring a dozen sailors.
Last year, two of the 7th Fleet’s commanders were forced out after two collisions between Navy destroyers and commercial ships resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors.
A hint of possible problems with the jet came from Gen. Robert B Neller, commandant of the Marines, in January.
At a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Neller said: “In fact right now we’ve got too many Hornets; we’ve got too many airplanes.”
Giving a hint of the possible problem, Gen. Robert B Neller, commandant of the Marines, said “In fact right now we’ve got too many Hornets; we’ve got too many airplanes.”
The crash was the second involving aircraft belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan in less than a month and the crush is under investigation.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi