A US F-16 fighter jet suffered a
"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 in-flight emergency over the West Sea
(also called the Yellow Sea, Editor's note)
and crashed at approximately 8:41 a.m.”
local Wednesday (11:41 p.m. GMT Tuesday), American forces reported in a statement.
“The pilot ejected safely and was rescued around 9:30 a.m.
He is conscious and was transported to a medical facility for examination
,” the statement added.
“We are very grateful to the Republic of Korea and all of our teammates who made the quick rescue of our pilot possible
,” 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, specifying that the cause of the accident would not be made public until the end of the investigation.
Asked by AFP, the South Korean coast guard said the plane crashed near Mokdeok Island, off the country's west coast.
This is the third time that an American F-16 fighter has crashed in South Korea since May 2023. Each time, the pilots were able to be rescued.
Washington, Seoul's main ally, stations around 28,500 troops in South Korea to help protect it from its nuclear-armed northern neighbor.