WASHINGTON — A U.S. F-15D fighter jet based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom crashed in Lincolnshire at about 3:28 p.m., according to an Air Force release.

The pilot, with the 493rd Fighter Squadron, ejected and was brought back to the base with only minor injuries, a spokesman for the base said. The pilot was conducting training and the plane was not carrying any ammunition or explosives, he said.

It crashed near a school in the town of Spalding, some 40 miles northwest of the base, according to a report from the BBC.

Bernard White, who was working at home in nearby Weston Hills, told the BBC he heard “a scream” overhead.

“The aircraft seemed low and then it went ‘woof’ like a big thump,” he is quoted as saying. “I looked out the kitchen window and it was down. I saw a parachute in the distance. [The aircraft] was a fireball but now looks incredibly intact.”

The F-15D is the second Lakenheath aircraft to go down this year. An HH-60G Pave Hawk from the base crashed in January after striking multiple geese near Salthouse, England, killing four on board.

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