By
The Associated Press
LONDON - Two U.S. F-15 fighter jets were reported missing yesterday over a Scottish mountain range, the U.S. Air Force said.
Meanwhile, an Army reconnaissance plane crashed yesterday in Germany, killing two people on board, U.S. officials said. Details were sketchy, but officials said the plane crashed on approach to Nuremberg airport.
The Pentagon confirmed that the two F-15C planes were more than an hour overdue to return to Lakenheath after a routine training mission over northern Scotland. Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Almarah Belk said a search and rescue mission had been launched from RAF Kinloss, a British air base.
The aircraft lost contact with ground control at Lakenheath, 75 miles northeast of London, when they were over the Cairngorm Mountains in the Scottish Highlands, Lakenheath spokeswoman Maj. Stacee Bako said.
The F-15C models involved carry only a pilot, Bako said.
A Royal Air Force spokeswoman said two RAF Nimrod reconnaissance planes and three Sea King helicopters from Scottish bases were searching the area, helped by two RAF mountain rescue teams on the ground.
Grampian police in Aberdeen said they had no reports of any planes coming down.
The Royal Air Force spokeswoman said the planes left Lakenheath at around 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. EST) for a three-hour sortie over the Scottish Highlands.
They last made radio contact about 45 minutes later, said the spokeswoman, speaking on condition her name not be used.
With four peaks over more than 4,000 feet, topped by Ben Macdhui at 4,296, the Cairngorms are Britain's loftiest mountain range.
Weather in the Cairngorms for most of the afternoon has been cold and bright with good visibility and light southerly winds, the Meteorological Office said. But snow and sleet showers were beginning to develop in the mountains, where temperatures near the mountain peaks are about 21 degrees.
The F-15 is the Air Force's principal air-to-air fighter.
The U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard currently operate more than 1,000 F-15s.
