An Oregon Air National Guard F-15C Eagle that made an emergency landing on Wednesday ditched its entire arsenal of live air-to-air missiles before touching down at Portland International Airport, The War Zone reports.
- The aircraft, assigned to the 142nd Fighter Wing out of Portland Air National Guard Base, was conducting an alert training mission on the morning Feb. 21 when it experienced a malfunction “centered around its landing gear,” according to CBS News affiliate KOIN.
- The War Zone, citing sources, reports that F-15 diverted into a nearby military operating area and fired off its missile load into the Pacific Ocean before making its arrested landing at Portland International Airport.
- That the F-15 fired its missile rather than simply dropping them is itself a rare occurrence, per the War Zone, but ditching the missiles was an expensive choice: the F-15’s standard alert loudout of four AIM-120C AMRAAMs and a pair of AIM-9X Sidewinders likely cost the Pentagon $4.5 million — at least.
- The F-15 pilot was not injured in the incident, KOIN reports, and the Oregon Air National Guard has launched an investigation into the cause of the landing gear issue.
- Read the whole report at The War Zone here.