A pair US F-15 fighter jets came close to taking out a couple of free-falling skydivers at nearly 350 mph

An F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron conducts a high-speed pass over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
An F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron conducts a high-speed pass over Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England

U.S. Air Force photo/ Tech. Sgt. Matthew Plew

  • A pair of US F-15s appear to have come close to colliding with a couple of skydivers over southern England earlier this year, a British air safety board report reveals.

  • The US fighters were flying at 345 mph on a routine training flight when they passed below a pair of skydivers in freefall at 120 mph over Chatteris airfield, Stars and Stripes reported, citing a UK Airprox Board report.

  • RAF Lakenheath is "using this incident to reinforce the vital importance of situational awareness and attention to detail for all of our air traffic controllers and aircrew," the 48th Fighter Wing commander said.

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A pair of skydivers nearly had an unfortunate run-in with two US Air Force F-15 fighter jets in the skies above southern England earlier this year, a British air safety board reports.

The US fighters out of RAF Lakenheath, home to the US 48th Fighter Wing, were flying at 345 mph above Cambridgeshire on April 17. Above Chatteris airfield, a popular skydiving location the fighter pilots were not aware was active, two parachutists were in freefall at roughly 120 mph, Stars and Stripes reported, citing a UK Airprox Board report released this past summer.

The skydivers captured video footage of the fighters passing beneath them.

"The Board was shown Go-Pro footage filmed from the helmet of one of the parachutists and could clearly see the F15s passing beneath," the report read, further explaining that "once the parachutists had seen the F15s there was very little they could do to avoid the situation, having no control over their speed or direction whilst in freefall."

There was a debate about how close the fighters actually came to the skydivers, Airprox explained, adding that the board eventually concluded that "safety had been reduced much below the norm." The pilots did not see the parachutists, nor were they aware of any planned jumps.

Chatteris airfield, according to the Airprox report, notifies Lakenheath every morning of its planned activities. The board agreed that "there was very little more that Chatteris could have done from an operational perspective to prevent" this near-miss, which was the result of problems both on the ground and in the air.

In response to this incident, the 48th Fighter Wing is briefing crews again and reminding everyone of the need to steer clear of the Chatteris skydiving site.

RAF Lakenheath is "using this incident to reinforce the vital importance of situational awareness and attention to detail for all of our air traffic controllers and aircrew," Col. Will Marshall, commander of the 48th Fighter Wing, told Stars and Stripes.

"UK airspace is incredibly complex and often congested, and the safety of our aircrew as well as those we share the skies with is our number one priority," he added. The Airprox report noted that prior to the near-miss with the skydivers, the F-15s had been forced to change course to avoid a KC-135 refueling tanker that was determined to be "on a collision course with the formation."

It was apparently that course change, combined with various other influencing factors, that sent the fighters over Chatteris and put the skydivers in danger.

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