Ukrainian F-16 goes down after technical issue; pilot ejects safely

Ukraine's Air Force lost an F-16 fighter jet on Friday morning when an incident occurred on board. However, the pilot ejected the fighter jet, Reuters reported, citing a Ukrainian air force statement.

In a statement shared on Telegram, Ukraine's air force said, "According to preliminary data... an unusual situation arose on board. The pilot moved the aircraft away from the settlement and successfully ejected."

The air force further said that the pilot was feeling fine, Reuters reported. It hinted that the crash did not seem to be the result of Russian fire, and a commission had been appointed to carry out a probe into all the circumstances of the incident.

Ukranian news website The Kyiv Independent reported, citing the Air Force that the Ukrainian Air Force "lost contact" with an F-16 aircraft during a mission to repel a Russian aerial attack overnight on May 16, following an emergency situation on board.

The pilot diverted the plane away from populated areas and ejected, after which the search and rescue team found him, according to the statement.

The Kyiv Independent further reported that according to preliminary data, the F-16 pilot destroyed three Russian aerial targets and was targeting a fourth one with an aircraft cannon. After an unspecified emergency, the contact was lost at around 3:30 am (local time), forcing the pilot to eject from the aircraft.

The Air Force did not share further details regarding the plane's ultimate fate or its likely crash site.

Earlier in August last year, the Ukrainian Air Force lost its first F-16 fighter jet in a crash, leading to the death of its pilot, Oleksii Mes. A second F-16 pilot, Pavlo Ivanov, was killed during a combat mission in April.

Ukraine received its first US-made F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark in 2024 and started using them to counter Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine.