RIYADH — The pilot of a Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 jet which crashed in the Gulf during a routine training exercise late Sunday has been found dead, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “The body of the pilot Fahd Bin Faleh Al-Masarir was recovered from the sea,” the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said. The plane that crashed was based at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Province. The ministry said in an earlier statement that the jet went down in Saudi waters and that the authorities were investigating the cause of the crash. The pilot of another Royal Air Force aircraft had a miraculous escape when a Hawk crashed at King Faisal Airbase in Tabuk, according to a separate statement from the ministry on Monday. The pilot was able to parachute to safety and was taken to a local hospital. — SG
