'The search and rescue mission is ongoing'published at 14:20 British Summer Time 15 June 2020
BBC Look East's Richard Daniel reports live from RAF Lakenheath as the search for a US fighter pilot off the Yorkshire coast continues.
Updates for Suffolk
Philippa Taylor
BBC Look East's Richard Daniel reports live from RAF Lakenheath as the search for a US fighter pilot off the Yorkshire coast continues.
Colonel Will Marshall said efforts to locate a US airman off the UK coast were ongoing.
Read MoreA USAF spokesman said he was "hopeful" search teams would be able to "locate and recover" a pilot who went missing after his jet crashed into the North Sea.
The F-15C aircraft, which went into the water 74 nautical miles off the East Yorkshire coast, was from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
Colonel Will Marshall said the cause of the crash, which occurred during a training mission, was unknown.
He also praised UK counterparts for their help in the search.
Earlier this month, the F-15s based at RAF Lakenheath had been part of a display to mark the 76th anniversary of D-Day.
This post on the 48th Fighter Wing's Instagram page shows four jets performing a "missing man formation" over the beaches of Normandy.
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The 48th Fighter Wing also performed the missing man formation as part of a flypast for the 75th anniversary of the Mi Amigo US bomber crash in Sheffield.
On its website,, external the US Air Force says the F-15 Eagle - the type of jet which has crashed in the North Sea - is an "all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to permit the Air Force to gain and maintain air supremacy over the battlefield".
This YouTube footage celebrates some "great sounding" F-15 jets at the US base.
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An area of north-west Suffolk largely reliant on the custom of those occupying the US military bases at its heart - RAF Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell - is often known as "Little America".
In the past seven decades, tens of thousands of US military personnel, their spouses and their children have set up home in this Suffolk enclave for postings lasting between two and four years.
There is no defined border for "Little America" - arriving there is mostly signalled by a preponderance of large, American cars and signs bearing the Stars and Stripes.
Many businesses in the area also accept payment in dollars.
At RAF Lakenheath there are about 5,500 active-duty military members and 2,700 British and US civilians working on base
The United States Air Force claims RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall are worth a combined £700m ($910m) to the local economy.
Laurence Cawley
BBC News
Days like today are the ones everybody at RAF Lakenheath fears the most.
Six years ago an F15 went into a tail spin before crashing into the ground close to homes in Western Hills, Lincolnshire. The base commander at the time told me how his primary fears were the safety of UK citizens, the safety of his air crew and the USAF’s relationship with its host country.
Many would be surprised at just how unlike USAF pilots are to the characters portrayed in films like Top Gun.
The changing rooms before a training mission are intensely serious places, with pilots quietly ruminating on every last detail of the flight ahead.
A short walk from the changing area is a room called "the vault".
"The vault holds all the classified information those with clearance need to piece together exactly what happened during a particular flight or mission,” the then commander told me.
That's where all of the voice, sensor data and display recordings will be. It will be from this same vault that the exact cause of today’s crash will emerge.
In a video posted on Twitter, Col Will Marshall, from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, said that the pilot was still missing but he was "hopeful" he will be found.
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RAF Lakenheath's 48th fighter wing say that the pilot of the jet is "still missing" after the F-15 they were flying crashed in the North Sea at about 09:40 BST.
Quote MessageWe are aware of an incident in which an aeroplane has gone down into the sea 74 nautical miles (137km) off Flamborough Head and are supporting the coastguard in their response.
Spokesman, Humberside Police
Pictures from the Yorkshire coast show fog over the North Sea after a US fighter jet crashed.
Read MoreData from MarineTraffic - a website that tracks ships and vessels using GPS - shows that an RNLI lifeboat is on its way to the scene of the crashed US fighter jet.
The search and rescue crew from Scarborough were deployed at 09:20, according to data on the website.
Pictures from the Yorkshire coast show foggy weather over the North Sea after a US fighter jet crashed 74 nautical miles off Flamborough Head.
The F-15C Eagle, from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, crashed shortly after 09:40 BST while on a training mission.
The cause of the crash is currently unknown but the US Air Force confirmed only one pilot was on board.
BBC Look North reporter Caroline Bilton took this footage close to midday and said there was no sign of rescue off the coast and views out to sea were limited.
It is reported that the US fighter jet has crashed off the coast of East Yorkshire.
It had been in a formation with three other jets, but for reasons as yet unknown, crashed into the North Sea at 09:40 BST.
The jets, from RAF Lakenheath, were on a "routine training mission".
On Twitter, the aviation acccount @CivMilAir shares an indication of the effort going into the search and rescue operation.
In a post at just after 11:00 BST, they said military aircraft were circling the crash site with search and rescue teams deployed.
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A rescue helicopter based in the Humber region and RNLI lifeboats from Scarborough and Bridlington have been deployed in the search for a US fighter jet which has crashed into the North Sea.
In a statement, HM Coastguard said it received a report of a plane "going down into the sea" about 75 nautical miles (86 miles) off Flamborough Head.
It said that following a Mayday call other nearby vessels are heading to the area to help with the search.
The Us Airforce has said the F-15C jet, from RAF Lakenheath was on a training mission when the crash happened at about 09:40.
It said the pilot and jet have not yet been located.