A pilot was killed when an American F-18 fighter jet crashed on farmland after taking off from a U.S. Air Force (USAF) base in eastern England.

"A military aircraft which had taken off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk came down at about 10.30 a.m.," a police spokeswoman said. "We can confirm one fatality and believe there was just one person on board the aircraft."

The crash occurred in Redmere near Ely, a rural area about 70 miles (110 km) north of London. 

Last year, four crew on board a U.S. Pave Hawk helicopter based at Lakenheath were killed when their aircraft crashed during a training exercise in a rural area on the north Norfolk coast.

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