Military pilots ejected from plane at MidAmerica Airport, suffer minor injuries

MASCOUTAH, Ill. (WAND) - Two military pilots were ejected from a fighter jet at a St. Louis-area airport Tuesday morning.

This occurred on the MidAmerica Airport runway, according to NBC affiliate KSDK. The pilots were taken to a hospital for treatment and one of them has been released, a Scott Air Force Base spokesperson said.

The plane, which was a Boeing F-15QA, departed the runway at about 7:30 a.m., but the spokesperson said there was an emergency ejection while the plan was on the runway and not during flight.

Video captured from the scene by KSDK showed the jet on the runway with the canopy gone.

The plane was going to be transferred to the Qatari Air Force in a foreign military sales program, per the spokesperson. Scott Air Force Base military personnel are part of the training program that involves the jet.

Boeing conducted the first F-15AQ flight from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in April 2020. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Defense gave Boeing a $6.2 billion contract for manufacturing 36 F-15 fighter jets for Qatar's Air Force.

A domestic variant of the jet was built by Boeing with investments that came from the sales program with Qatar. The first F-15EX was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in March.