F-22 crashes at Egin, pilot ejects

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — An F-22 fighter jet with the 43rd Fighter Squadron crashed shortly after 9 a.m. Friday on the Eglin Air Force Base reservation. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and was taken to the Eglin hospital, according to Ilka Cole, chief of media operations for the Eglin host unit, 96th Test Wing. The plane went down 12 miles northeast of the main part of the base in a remote part of the Eglin reservation, according to Cole. The Eglin reservation covers hundreds of thousands of acres across Northwest Florida. The F-22 Raptor was on a routine training mission at the time, according to Cole. The plane was not part of a flyover scheduled for Friday morning to honor first responders and hospital personnel in Bay and Gulf counties for their work in the battle against COVID-19. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/15/20)