Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Two crew members lost their lives on Thursday as a Saudi Air Force jet crashed during a routine training session in the eastern region of the country, the defense ministry confirmed in an official statement.
The incident occurred at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran, where the aircraft, belonging to the kingdom’s fleet of F-15SAs, was engaged in its training maneuvers, stated Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, the defense ministry spokesman.
The event follows a similar occurrence five months prior when another F-15SA crashed in the training area of an air base in Khamis Mushait city, resulting in the loss of two lives.
An investigation into the cause of the recent accident has been initiated, with Maliki informing the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) of the launch.
The F-15 has long been a key element in the alliance between the Saudi air force and the United States, the primary security partner of the Gulf kingdom. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a division of the US Defense Department, emphasized the significance of the F-15SA in bolstering Saudi Arabia’s tactical air force capability against regional threats in a 2010 statement, notifying the US Congress of plans to sell 84 such aircraft to Riyadh.
