US fighter jet crashes near South Korea – media

The incident reportedly occurred near a US Air Force base on the country’s southwestern coast

An American F-16 fighter jet has crashed in waters near South Korea, sources told Yonhap News. The accident marks the third time a US war plane went down in the region in less than a year.

A fighter pilot was forced to abandon the jet and ejected from the aircraft early on Wednesday morning, with the F-16 falling into waters off the coast of Gunsan, South Korea, near Washington’s Kunsan Air Base, the outlet reported.

“The fighter jet crashed into the water and the rescued pilot is safe,” one unnamed source told Yonhap.

The crash follows multiple similar incidents involving the same type of fighter jet in recent months, with another F-16 going down over the Yellow Sea during an exercise in December. That plane was also based at Kusan as part of the US 8th Fighter Wing.

In May, yet another F-16 crashed close to Osan Air Base in the northwest of the country. Officials revealed few details about the incident, but said the pilot was taking part in a routine training mission during the accident and had safely ejected.