An F-15C fighter jet was still sitting at Vandenberg Air Force Base Tuesday, five days after making an emergency landing there when one of the plane's two engines failed.

Emergency crews responded to the Vandenberg airfield about 12:45 p.m. Thursday after the pilot notified air traffic controllers about the left engine's failure. The two-engine plane landed safely.

The pilot was one of four fighters flying from Kadena Air Base, Japan, to Jacksonville International Airport, Fla., officials said. One of the other F-15s also landed here with the ailing plane.

Vandenberg officials said a repair crew from another base has been summoned. The plane remained here Tuesday, not uncommon for an Air National Guard or other unit that may need time to assemble and transport a team of maintenance people, according to Staff Sgt. Raymond Hoy.

While the plane's at Vandenberg, members of the 30th Operations Support Squadron will continue to provide support for the jet and the pilot, as well as runway inspections and maintenance for the jet's departure.

“We make sure he gets everything he needs,” Staff Sgt. Norman Davis, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of airfield management training with the 30th Operations Support Squadron. “We fuel the jet and order parts. Basically, we're the caretakers while the jet is on the ground.”

The plane was heading for its new home with the 125th Fighter Wing in Florida when it diverted to Vandenberg. Under the latest base realignment and closure initiative, the four jets are the first shipment of F-15C's that will transition from Japan to Florida to replace F-15A's, military officials said.

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Vandenberg has no aircraft regularly assigned to the base, but aircraft regularly use the 3-mile-long runway - among the nation's longest - to practice landings and take-offs.

The runway, once 5,000 feet long, grew by 10,000 feet about three decades ago to accommodate landings for the West Coast space shuttle program. However, that program was canceled before any shuttle ever launched from Vandenberg.

The airfield typically hosts about 15 to 20 planes landing there each month, officials said in May. That includes the modified L-1011 jet that serves as the launch pad for the air-launched Pegasus space vehicle. Others include the P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, F-22A Raptor, F-18 Hornet and the V-22 Osprey.

In December 2005, an F-22 landed at Vandenberg because of “operational difficulties” for a two-day stay, officials said. That incident occurred just five days before Air Force officials declared the newest fighter ready to join the operational fleet.

September 5, 2007