One USAF F-16 fighter crashed Tuesday in waters of the Yellow Sea off the west coast of South Korea. The pilot was rescued after successfully ejecting from the aircraft. It is the third such accident in 11 months.
The U.S. Air Force’s 8th Fighter Fighter Wing, deployed to Kusan Air Base (180 km from Seoul), reported that one of its F-16 Fighting Falcons experienced an in-flight emergency over the Yellow Sea and crashed at approximately 8:41 a.m. Jan. 30.
The pilot ejected safely and was recovered at about 9:30 a.m. thanks to a joint effort by Korean and U.S. rescue units.
«We are very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible,» stated Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, commander of the 8th FW. » Now we will shift our focus to the search and recovery of the aircraft.»
— 8th Fighter Wing — Wolf Pack (@KunsanAirBase) January 31, 2024
The pilot was found conscious and in apparent good health, but was transported to a medical facility for evaluation.
The USAF will conduct extensive investigations to determine the cause of the accident before further information can be provided.
A worrying trend
This would be the third accident suffered by a U.S. 8th Fighter Wing (8th FW) F-16 in a short period of time.
According to Yonhap news, in December, an F-16 of the 8th FW crashed in the Yellow Sea during routine training due to an in-flight emergency. In May, another F-16 assigned to the same unit crashed near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul. In both cases there were no casualties, as the pilots ejected from the aircraft.
Maj. Rachel Buitrago, a spokeswoman for the U.S. 7th Air Force that operates the unit, said investigations into the crashes of the two F-16s that crashed last year are currently ongoing.
