An F-16 fighter jet takes off at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, 275 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 7, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — A U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashed in waters off South Korea’s west coast on Wednesday and the pilot was rescued after ejecting from the aircraft, the U.S. Air Force said.
The jet assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing in Kunsan Air Base, about 180 kilometers south of Seoul, experienced an “in-flight emergency” over the Yellow Sea and crashed at approximately 8:41 a.m., 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs said in a release.
The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was recovered at around 9:30 a.m. through joint rescue efforts by South Korea and U.S. officials.
The U.S. military said the pilot is in stable condition and an investigation is currently under way to figure out the cause of the incident.
“We are very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible,” said Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th Fighter Wing commander. “Now we will shift our focus to search and recovery of the aircraft.
It marks the third U.S. F-16 crash in South Korea in a year.
In December, an F-16 of the U.S. 8th Fighter Wing crashed into the Yellow Sea during routine training due to an in-flight emergency. In May, an F-16 assigned to the same unit crashed near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul. There were no casualties in both cases as the pilots ejected from aircraft.
Maj. Rachel Buitrago, spokesperson for the U.S. 7th Air Force operating the unit, said the accident investigations into the two F-16 crashes last year are currently under way.
The U.S. military requires separate safety and accident investigations in major incidents, with the latter being a legal one to prepare a publicly releasable report.
The safety investigation for the crash last May has concluded, while the one for last month is in its final stages, according to Buitrago.
(Yonhap)
