A
US F-16 fighter jet
crashed into the water off the
western coast of South Korea
on Wednesday .
The pilot
managed to eject in time
before impact and was rescued minutes later.
"The fighter plane crashed into the water and
the rescued pilot is safe
," reported the Yonhap news agency, which stated that the plane crash occurred near
Gunsan
, in
North Jeolla
province .
Shortly after, the US military issued an official statement on the matter: "An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing experienced an
in-flight emergency
over the Western Sea and crashed at approximately 8:41 today."
“The pilot ejected safely and was recovered around 9:30 am.
“He is conscious and was transferred to a medical center
for evaluation,” he concluded in the message, where he also thanked South Korea for its cooperation during the rescue operation.
An American F-16 fighter jet.
Photo: AFP.
For his part, Colonel Matthew C. Gaetke, commander of the 8th Fighter Wing, said: "We are very grateful to the ROK rescue forces and all of our colleagues who made the quick recovery of our pilot possible."
“We will now shift our focus to the search and recovery of the aircraft.
"Information on the cause of the in-flight emergency will not be available until the conclusion of the extensive safety and accident investigations," he added.
In December and May of the previous year, two more F-16 fighters crashed in South Korea during routine training exercises.
In both cases the pilot was unharmed.
The United States is South Korea's main security ally and has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.
With information from AFP.