Story highlights
The pilot is missing; it's not known whether he ejected
He reported an in-flight emergency prior to the crash
Search-and-rescue personnel are scouring the area
A pilot is missing after an Air National Guard F-15C fighter jet crashed Wednesday in Virginia’s Augusta County, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear whether the pilot ejected, Air Force Col. James Keefe, 104th Fighter Wing commander, told reporters.
“People are on site. We actually have helicopters over the site doing the search-and-rescue mission, but we have not been able to talk to anybody,” he said.
The single-seat aircraft went down in a remote, wooded area near the Virginia-West Virginia border.
Prior to losing contact and the crash, the pilot reported an in-flight emergency, Keefe said. He declined to talk about the details of that report.
There were no reports of injuries on the ground, said Corinne Geller, spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police.
The state police got the call about the plane crash Wednesday morning, and smoke indicated the location of the crash.
The 104th Fighter Wing is based in Westfield, Massachusetts.