US fighter jet crashes near South Korea

The US military has confirmed that an American F-16 fighter jet has crashed in waters near South Korea. The incident marks the third time a US fighter jet has crashed in the region in less than a year.

Accordingly, a fighter pilot was forced to abandon the aircraft and eject. The incident took place early on the morning of January 31, causing the F-16 to crash into the sea off Gunsan, South Korea, near Washington's Kunsan Air Base, Yonhap reported.

There have been several accidents involving F-16 aircraft recently.

“Information on the cause of the emergency will not be released until a thorough safety and accident investigation has been completed,” said Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, commander of the 8th Fighter Wing.

“We will now shift our focus to finding and recovering the aircraft,” the statement added, adding that the US praised Seoul’s rescue team for quickly retrieving the US pilot for transfer to a medical facility.

The crash follows similar incidents involving the same type of fighter jet in recent months. Another F-16 crashed over the Yellow Sea during an exercise in December 2023, also flying out of Kusan as part of the US 8th Fighter Wing.

In May 2023, another F-16 crashed near Osan Air Base in northwestern South Korea. Officials released few details about the incident, saying the pilot was on a routine training mission when the accident occurred and ejected safely.

On July 27, 1953, the Inter-Korean Armistice Agreement between South Korea and North Korea was signed. After the armistice agreement, South Korea and the United States signed a Mutual Defense Treaty to support the alliance between the two countries.

There are currently about 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea.

The F-16 multi-role fighter was developed by General Dynamics in the 1970s. This is the fighter model used by the US military and its allies. Each F-16 costs about 30-35 million USD depending on the variant. The F-16 can reach a maximum speed of 2,121 km/h at an altitude of 12,000 m, a maximum ceiling of 18,000 m with a range of 546 km.

Phuong Anh (Source: RT)

Source