A U.S. F-16 fighter jet suffered an “in-flight emergency” and crashed off the west coast of South Korea on Wednesday, but its pilot was rescued, the U.S. military said.
“An F-16 Fighting Falcon (…) encountered an emergency while flying over the West Sea (also called the Yellow Sea, editor's note) and crashed at around 8:41 a.m.” Local Wednesday (Tuesday, 23:41 GMT), US forces reported in a statement.
“The pilot ejected safely and was rescued around 9:30am. He is conscious and was taken to a medical facility for evaluation,” the statement continued.
“We are very grateful to the Republic of Korea and all of our teammates who facilitated the quick rescue of our pilot,” said Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, who commands the unit to which the fighter was assigned.
“We will now focus on the search and recovery of the aircraft,” he added, indicating that the cause of the accident would only be revealed after the investigation was completed.
When contacted by AFP, the South Korean Coast Guard said the plane crashed near Mokdeok Island off the country's west coast.
This is the third crash of an American F-16 fighter jet in South Korea since May 2023. Each time the pilots were rescued.
Washington, Seoul's main ally, is stationing around 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect it from its nuclear-armed northern neighbor.