US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea, pilot rescued

US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea, pilot rescued
US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea, pilot rescued

Hello and welcome to the details of US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea, pilot rescued and now with the details

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Pictured here is an F-16 Fighting Falcon. — AFP pic/US Air Force handout/Kevin Gruenwald

SEOUL, Jan 31 — An American F-16 fighter jet experienced an “in-flight emergency” over the West Sea off South Korea and crashed early today, the US military said, adding the pilot had been rescued.

“An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing here experienced an in-flight emergency over the West Sea and crashed at approximately 8.41am today,” the military said in a statement.

“The pilot ejected safely and was recovered at around 9.30am. He is conscious and was transported to a medical facility for assessment.”

The statement hailed the close cooperation with South Korea during the rescue operation.

Advertisement

“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 Colonel Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th Fighter Wing commander.

“Now we will shift our focus to search and recovery of the aircraft,” he added.

“Information on the cause of the in-flight emergency will not be made available until the conclusion of thorough safety and accident investigations,” the statement said.

Advertisement

The Korea Coast Guard told AFP the fighter jet had crashed near Mokdeok island, which is off South Korea’s west coast.

This is the third crash of an American F-16 fighter jet in South Korea since May 2023.

A US F-16 fighter jet crashed in December during a routine training exercise after experiencing what the US military said was “an in-flight emergency”. That pilot was also rescued.

In May last year, a US F-16 jet crashed during a routine training exercise in a farming area south of Seoul. The pilot ejected safely and the accident caused no other casualties.

Washington is Seoul’s most important security ally and stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to help protect it from the nuclear-armed North.

In neighbouring Japan, the US military announced late last year that it was grounding its fleet of V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft following a deadly crash that killed eight US airmen. — AFP

These were the details of the news US F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea, pilot rescued for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.

It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

PREV Belgium charges three Chechens on suspicion of ‘terrorism’
NEXT US military raises alert level for Europe bases: reports

Author Information

I am Jeff King and I’m passionate about business and finance news with over 4 years in the industry starting as a writer working my way up into senior positions. I am the driving force behind Al-KhaleejToday.NET with a vision to broaden the company’s readership throughout 2016. I am an editor and reporter of “Financial” category. Address: 383 576 Gladwell Street Longview, TX 75604, USA Phone: (+1) 903-247-0907 Email: [email protected]