Japan's Defense Ministry banned all aircraft fleet flying the F-15 Eagle fighter that country on Wednesday (6 / 7). The decision was taken after an F-15J aircraft crashed under mysterious circumstances in the East China Sea, the day before.
The missing fighter took off from Naha air base in Okinawa, Japan, Tuesday morning, to undergo combat training with three other aircraft. At about 10:33, the pilot Major Yuji Kawakubo (37) sends an alarm signal and disappeared from radar at a point within 180 kilometers northwest of the city of Naha, Okinawa.
Kawakubo own up to this news was revealed still missing. Japanese military mobilized no less than six warships and 13 military aircraft, plus three ocean patrol boat guards, to seek Kawakubo in the waters of the East China Sea.
"Until now we are still investigating the details of this accident and make every effort to locate the missing pilot. We will continue to provide updates if there is progress, "said Chief of Staff of the Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) Japan Shigeru Iwasaki, as quoted by The Japan Times.
One search aircraft found the traces of oil spills and some parts of the aircraft, including the tail jet, at sea. "We found some parts of the aircraft, but the plane itself has not been found," said a spokeswoman for ASDF.
Not yet known if Kawakubo had used a chair thrower to get out of the plane before it crashed into the sea.
All of Japan's F-15 fleet grounded until the cause of the crash is unknown. Japan has 202 aircraft and an F-15 fighter aircraft are the largest users outside their home country, the United States.
Japan to produce its own planes were under the licenses granted to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Currently, Japan is looking for a new aircraft to replace the fleet of F-15 that has begun to ripen.
The U.S. itself also plans to replace the F-15 fleet with its planes more modern, like the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor. However, these new planes is not without problems.
Until now, the U.S. Air Force still flying ban all fleet F-22 belonging to the U.S.. The world's most modern fighter planes were banned from flying since May 3 because of suspected problems in the oxygen supply system for pilots.
U.S. Air Force decision was taken after a spate of incidents involving aircraft worth 411 million U.S. dollars per unit. One incident occurred in Alaska during an F-22 grazed the treetops before landing. When checked, the pilot claimed to have completely forgotten grazed a tree, which indicates he may suffer from hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation.