&w=3840&q=100)
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Time of India
Pentagon planted UFO myths to hide secret weapons programs?
A new Department of Defense (DoD) report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal reveals that the U.S. military deliberately fueled UFO conspiracy theories—including those linked to Area 51—to conceal top-secret weapons programs such as the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter during the Cold War. The report, compiled by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), found that the Pentagon spread disinformation, including doctored photographs of flying saucers, and intentionally withheld information from witnesses who had unknowingly seen classified military tests. One striking example uncovered in the 2024 report involves a retired Air Force colonel who, during the 1980s, visited a bar near Area 51 and handed the owner fabricated images of flying saucers. The colonel later admitted to Pentagon investigators that he was acting under official orders to spread false information and divert attention from the F-117 stealth jet tests being conducted at the site. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Private Jet - The Prices May Surprise You! Private Jet I Search Ads Learn More Undo The AARO, created in 2022 to investigate decades of UFO-related claims, discovered a culture of misinformation and even internal pranks. Its first director, Sean Kirkpatrick, led a wide-ranging investigation into decades of Defense Department memos, briefings, and classified communications. Among the findings: Air Force officers routinely hazed new recruits with fake briefings about a fictional unit called 'Yankee Blue' tasked with investigating alien spacecraft. The briefings came with strict orders never to speak about them. Many recipients believed the stories for years, unaware it was an elaborate ruse. The Pentagon only issued an order to end the practice in 2023. Live Events The motive behind the fake briefings remains unclear, though some speculate it was used as a loyalty test or a deeper tactic to seed confusion and misdirection. The report also highlights how real eyewitnesses were misled. Former Air Force captain Robert Salas, for example, has long claimed he saw a UFO hover over a Montana nuclear missile silo in 1967, disabling all 10 warheads and shutting down electrical systems. He was later ordered to remain silent about the incident. Kirkpatrick's team found that what Salas actually witnessed was an early electromagnetic pulse (EMP) test intended to evaluate whether U.S. silos could withstand nuclear radiation and still retaliate. The test failed—and rather than admit to the vulnerability, officials opted to let witnesses draw their own, more otherworldly conclusions. The AARO report also confirms that several well-known UFO rumors, including the Area 51 legend, were seeded to distract the public and foreign adversaries from ongoing experimental aircraft development. These revelations explain why last year's transparency report from the Pentagon omitted crucial details about the origins of these myths. The Department of Defense has acknowledged that not all AARO findings have been made public but has pledged to release a follow-up report later this year. 'The department is committed to releasing a second volume of its Historical Record Report, to include AARO's findings on reports of potential pranks and inauthentic materials,' the Pentagon said in a statement. While the revelations help explain the origins of several Cold War-era conspiracies, they also cast doubt on the authenticity of more recent UFO footage released by the military, including the viral 2020 Navy pilot videos.
Mint
37 minutes ago
- Mint
Explosion rocks US Kadena Air Base in Japan's Okinawa, at least one soldier dead
An explosion occurred at an ammunition storage area inside the US military's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, southern Japan, on Monday, reports claimed on Monday. At least one Japanese soldier but the injury is not life threatening, Japanese defence officials were quoted by Reuters as saying on Monday. Public broadcaster NHK reported that the facility belonged to Japan's Self Defense Forces and was used to temporarily store unexploded ammunition.
Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Time of India
Ukrainian Losses Mount As Zarya Falls To Russia; Zelensky Says 'Situation Is Difficult'
Russian forces have reportedly taken full control of Zarya settlement in Donetsk, raising the national flag after what Moscow called a meek Ukrainian surrender. Backed by heavy artillery and airstrikes, the Yug battlegroup inflicted massive casualties, with Russia's Defense Ministry claiming over 1,200 Ukrainian troops were eliminated. Additional targets, including electronic warfare stations and ammunition depots, were destroyed during the offensive. Russia's Tsentr battlegroup also pushed west into the Dnipropetrovsk region, intensifying its broader campaign across eastern Ukraine.#ukrainewar #RussiaUkraineConflict #EasternUkraine #donetsk #Zarya Read More
