AN American pilot on secondment to the RAF died yesterday when his
Harrier GR7 jump-jet crashed, the Ministry of Defence said.
The MoD, which said there were no casualties on the ground, was unable
to confirm officially reports that the Harrier had exploded in mid-air.
The RAF's most sophisticated warplane went down near Aston Somerville,
five miles south of Evesham, Worcestershire.
Police said the body of the pilot, the only crew member, was found in
the wreckage.
An RAF spokesman in London named him as Captain B. K. Hearney of the
US Marine Corps who had taken off from RAF Wittering. He was on
secondment to the RAF.
His Harrier, equipped with the most advanced avionics in the RAF,
allowing low-level attacks at night and in bad weather, was on a routine
training mission.
A police spokesman said witnesses saw the aircraft explode in mid-air
above the village. ''Miraculously, there was no damage caused to
property and no casualties on the ground.''
The West Midlands air ambulance had flown to the scene. A spokesman
said there was a report of a farmer missing in the area but it was not
clear whether or not this was connected with the crash.
The Harrier was flying at low-level at around 250ft when the incident
happened.
Initial indications point to engine failure caused by a bird strike.
It is understood the aircraft had just flown over ploughed fields,
popular with birds seeking food.
The Harrier has huge air intakes on either side of the fuselage for
its single engine and a bird strike could destroy the engine creating a
fireball.
Police later said the main bulk of the wreckage came down in a field
half a mile from the village centre.
Postmistress Jane Storer said she understood the aircraft had clipped
a bungalow outside the village, but that its owner had been out at the
time.
''I heard a loud bang and a vibration which rattled the windows and
looked out of the window and saw black smoke,'' she said.
RAF aircraft often practised low flying in the area, she added.
An RAF board of inquiry has been set up to investigate the cause of
the crash and investigators were on their way to the scene.
An identical aircraft crashed in northern Iraq last November after
suffering engine failure. The pilot ejected and was picked up by a
United States helicopter combat search and rescue team.
Local Kurdish guerrillas secured the wreckage for several days until
an RAF salvage team could remove it.
Last Wednesday a Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS2, the latest and most
advanced version of the Navy's jump-jet, crashed in the Bristol Channel
off Lundy Island. The pilot escaped unhurt after ejecting.
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