Pilot ID’d in US Marine jet crash in England

Published May 03, 2016

The U.S. Marine Corps pilot who died Wednesday in a F-18 crash in eastern England was reportedly identified as Maj. Taj Sareen, who had been stationed in Miramar, San Diego.

It is not yet known whether the pilot ejected from the single-seat aircraft. No other casualties were reported.

The plane was an F-18C Hornet from the Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 232 based in the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, the Marine Corps said. The jet was one of six going from Bahrain to Miramar when it went down 6 miles from Lakenheath airfield in eastern England, it added.

The other five planes were safely diverted to a nearby air base.

Cambridgeshire Police said the jet crashed after it had taken off from Lakenheath.

The twin-engine F-18 comes in single-seat and two-seat versions.

A year ago, a U.S. Air Force F-15 crashed in a field near the air base. The pilot was not seriously hurt.

In January 2014, four U.S. Air Force crew members based at Lakenheath died when their helicopter hit a flock of geese and crashed during a training mission.

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