U.S. F-18 jet crashes near Royal Air Force base in Britain

The plane is thought to have just left the air force base when it came down on farm land in Redmere, near Ely at around 10:30am.

The jet was returning from a rotational deployment to the Middle East when it failed to rendezvous for a mid-air refueling, British newspaper Daily Express said.

A spokesman from the US Embassy in London said: 'We can confirm that it was the pilot who died in the crash'.

A Cambridgeshire police official told CBS News "we believe there was only one person onboard the aircraft, and one person has died".

The US Marine Corps confirmed in a statement that the plane was one of theirs, adding: "Response efforts are under way and the incident is now under investigation".

They said emergency services were at the scene of the plane crash. This is similar to the kind of jet that crashed in England Wednesday.

A United States fighter jet has crashed near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, killing the pilot.

RAF Lakenheath has been an air force base since 1941 and operated heavily during World War II.

The identity of the pilot killed in the crash hasn't been released, and it is unknown if the pilot was able to eject from his aircraft. "It is a one-seater aircraft so no one else was in it".

Two fire and rescue crews were also in attendance, although Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said there was "no sign of any firefighting action taking place".


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