Jet dumps fuel
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on March 22, 2012 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
A 334th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle dumps fuel before making an emergency landing Wednesday, after smoke and fire were reported in the cockpit.
MOUNT OLIVE -- Those who showed up to take in an afternoon softball game in Mount Olive caught of a glimpse of more than they had bargained for Wednesday afternoon when two F-15Es -- one of them, dumping fuel -- streaked overhead.
But Seymour Johnson Air Force Base officials said the in-flight emergency those Wayne County residents witnessed ended without incident -- that the aircrew involved came away unscathed.
Fire and smoke in the cockpit during a routine sortie forced a 334th Strike Eagle crew to hustle back to the Goldsboro installation -- venting fuel along the way to lower the jet's landing weight.
And thanks to the professionalism of the pilot and weapon systems officer commanding the aircraft, they made it back to the flight line, where maintenance crews neutralized the threat, safely.