One dead as US fighter jet crashes in Mediterranean
A US Tomcat fighter jet has crashed during a training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, killing one of the two crew members.
The F-14 went into the water immediately after launch from the USS John F Kennedy aircraft carrier, which is on its way to deployment in the war in Afghanistan, said a statement from the US Sixth Fleet, based in Gaeta, Italy.
Fleet spokesman Cmdr Bob Ross said the pilot and radar officer in the two-seat jet ejected and both were recovered, but one was killed.
Their names have not been released.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, he said.
The Kennedy was doing routine flight training in the Mediterranean 50 nautical miles south of Crete when the accident happened.
The carriers is to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the anti-terror campaign, in which ships in the Arabian Sea have been used as platforms for the war in landlocked Afghanistan.
