Rare incident involving Singaporean F-16

A Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16 crashed shortly after takeoff during a training flight last Wednesday. The pilot managed to escape unharmed. It is the RSAF’s first fighter crash in two decades.

A Singapore Air Force F-16 crashed during a training flight. According to a Defense Ministry statement, the Lockheed Martin F-16C encountered problems shortly after taking off from Tengah Air Base around 12:35 local time. The pilot of the fighter jet managed to use the ejection seat to reach safety before the plane crashed and was not seriously injured. ‘The pilot is conscious and can walk. He is receiving medical treatment. No other personnel were injured,” the Defense Ministry said. An investigation into the circumstances of the accident has now been launched. According to the RSAF, the pilot in question is very experienced. The aircraft’s flight recorder has been recovered and the RSAF is working closely with manufacturer Lockheed Martin and Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau to analyze the information.

F-16 training suspended

Singapore, meanwhile, has halted all F-16 training flights while it investigates Wednesday’s accident. The country’s air force has been flying the F-16 for almost three decades. It suffered three other crashes during those years. The last one happened in May 2004 in Arizona. The pilot was killed.