Japan Grounds F-15s After Fuel Tank Falls OffBy ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has grounded its F-15 fighters for the second time in three months after a fuel tank and parts of a mock missile fell off a jet on a training mission, officials said Saturday.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force officials said that the flight suspension involves all missions except emergency scrambles and will last until the safety of Japan's 202 F-15 fighters has been confirmed.

No one was injured in Friday's incident near Komatsu base in western Japan and the pilot landed safely. In July, Japan's F-15s were grounded after one of the jets crashed into the East China Sea. Though presumed dead, the pilot of that jet is still listed as missing, and the cause of the accident has not been announced.

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