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November 23, 2009

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Crash result of pilot losing track of another jet

Friday, Dec. 24, 1999 | 12:53 p.m.

The pilots, Capt. William Cooley and Maj. Bruce Till, both from Nellis' 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, ejected after the impact. Till sustained injuries to a knee and a foot. Both $15 million F-15s were destroyed.

Investigators blamed Cooley for failing to clear his flight path before attempting to engage in simulated warfare with two F-16s in the area where Till was battling them.

The result was a collision in which one of the engine nozzles on the rear of Cooley's plane and the nose of Till's plane collided.

The June 15 midair collision occurred 19 miles north of Rachel, or about 125 miles north of Las Vegas, during a Y2K readiness exercise. The exercise, in part, was a test to find out if computers and clocks onboard the fighter jets will function without error when the year changes to 2000.

Investigators found that the Y2K test was not a factor in the accident.

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