US Air Force deletes Back to The Future tweet after fatal crash of military jet

A US Air Force jet crashed near an RAF base in Suffolk at around 11am on Wednesday

The F-18 is used widely across the US armed forces (Getty)

The US Air Force has apologised after posting a Back To The Future Day tweet showing a fighter with flames coming from its wings following the Cambridgeshire FA-18 crash.

The post from its US Air Force account showed a new F-35 fighter trailing streaks of fire like those created by the time-travelling DeLorean car in the hit 1980s movie franchise.

A single-seater F-18 military jet crashed near an Royal Air Force base in Suffolk at around 11am on Wednesday, killing the pilot.

The tweeted picture features the line "Where we are going ... we don't need roads" spoken by "Doc" Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) at the end of 1985's Back To The Future.

The film ends with his DeLorean car, previously seen to be grounded like a normal car, levitating into the air to speed up to 88mph and travel forward in time.

People around the world have been celebrating today, as October 21 2015 is the date Doc Brown and Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) travel to in sequel Back To The Future II, discovering a futuristic world where people use hoverboards (flying skateboards) and wear self-drying jackets, among other incredible gadgets.

The tweet added: "GREAT SCOTT! We're celebrating #BackToTheFutureDay, are you?"

The US Air Force later deleted it, writing: "We apologize for the insensitivity of our #BackToTheFutureDay post. We pulled the post in light of recent events."

Press Association