An American F-16 fighter jet experienced an “in-flight emergency” off the west coast of South Korea on Wednesday, but its pilot was rescued, the US military said.
“An F-16 Fighting Falcon (…) experienced an emergency while flying over the Western Sea (also called the Yellow Sea, editor's note) and crashed at approximately 8:41 a.m.” Local Wednesday (23:41 GMT Tuesday), according to the US forces in a statement.
The statement added: “The pilot jumped safely and was rescued at around 9:30 a.m. He is conscious and was transferred to a medical facility for examination.”
“We are extremely grateful to the Republic of Korea and all of our teammates who made the quick rescue of our pilot possible,” said Col. Matthew C. Gaethke, commander of the unit to which the fighter was assigned.
He added: “We will now focus on searching for and recovering the plane,” explaining that the cause of the accident will not be announced until the end of the investigation.
In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the South Korean Coast Guard said that the plane crashed near Mokdok Island off the country's western coast.
This is the third accident involving an American F-16 fighter in South Korea since May 2023. Each time, the pilots were able to be saved.
Washington, Seoul's main ally, has about 28,500 troops in South Korea to help protect it from its nuclear-armed northern neighbour.
