RAF pilot crash-landed £69million fighter jet after 'forgetting to put the wheels down'

An RAF pilot crash-landed a £69million fighter jet at 130mph after apparently forgetting to put the wheels down.

The state-of-the-art Eurofighter Typhoon careered down a runway without its landing gear down and experts are now investigating how the accident could have happened.

The pilot and the co-pilot, from 17 Squadron, were on a training exercised in California and miraculously walked away from the high-speed crash unhurt.

The plane, which has a top speed of 1,500mph, was flying in to the China Lake air base.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night: "The damage to aircraft is still to fully assessed and as a Board of Inquiry has been convened it would not be appropriate to comment further until investigations are complete. "There's no evidence at present to suggest the airworthiness of the aircraft has been compromised and the aircraft therefore remains safe to fly. More