A U.S. Air Force F-111 fighter-bomber crashed today in Saudi Arabia, killing both crew members, U.S. military officials reported. It was the fourth American aircraft to crash in three days among those deployed to this kingdom for Operation Desert Shield. Eight Marines are missing in the crash of two helicopters in the northern Arabian Sea on Monday. An Air Force F-4 reconnaissance jet also went down that day, killing both crew members. Lt. Cmdr. J.D. van Sickle, a military spokesman, said the F-111 crashed in the ``southern Arabian peninsula'' while on a training mission and that the incident was under investigation. The names of the flyers were withheld pending notification of next of kin. The aircraft was attached the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath Air Base in Britain. The wing was sent to Turkey as U.S. forces massed in the region in response to Iraq's Aug. 2 takeover of Kuwait. Today's crash brought to at least nine the number of Americans killed in the Persian Gulf region since Operation Desert Shield began. The eight Marines aboard the two UH-1 Huey helicopters that vanished Monday are still officially listed as missing. In addition to those killed in Saudi Arabia, 13 other Air Force personnel were killed in a crash of a C-5 jet cargo plane in Germany. That aircraft was ferrying supplies and equipment to the Saudi peninsula. Officials said the F-111 crashed at dawn. The aircraft was an F-model, the latest version of the 23-year-old swing-wing jet that first saw action in Vietnam. The F-model has more powerful engines, and state-of-the-art equipment to operate against enemy targets at night. The plane can carry up to 12 tons of bombs and missiles and has a crew of two, a pilot and a weapons systems officer.
A United States Air Force F-111 fighter-bomber crashed at dawn today in Saudi Arabia. Both crew members were killed. The aircraft was assigned to the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at Lakenheath in Britain, and was deployed to Saudi Arabia via Turkey as Operation Desert Shield progressed. The F-111 crash followed closely upon Monday's disappearance of two Marine Corps UH-1 Huey helicopters over the Arabian Sea, and the crash of an Air Force F-4 reconnaissance jet on the same day. Today's crash raises the number of Marines killed in Saudi Arabia to at least nine.