The F-15C pilot who was killed on Monday when his fighter crashed into the North Sea has been identified as 1st Lt. Kenneth Allen, according to the 48th Fighter Wing.
Allen served as assistant chief of weapons and tactics for the 493rd Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, a wing news release says. He had been with the wing since February.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Lt. Allen, and mourn with his family and his fellow Reapers in the 493rd Fighter Squadron,” Col Will Marshall, 48th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement. “The tremendous outpouring of love and support from our communities has been a ray of light in this time of darkness.”
Allen’s aircraft went down around 9:40 a.m. on Monday. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
He is survived by his parents and his wife Hannah, whom he married on Feb. 20.
Hannah Allen posted a Facebook message on Tuesday telling her husband that she knows he will find a way to stay close to her in the afterlife.
“Now just tell me what my next steps are in getting to you like you always have done,” she wrote. “Babe, this is just another bump in our road but we will get past it like we always do.”