ISLAMABAD – An American F-16 fighter jet crashed Tuesday near the city ofTrier in western Germany, the German air force told AFP, with the pilotsurviving after using the ejector seat.
After multiple emergency calls around 3:15 pm local time (1315 GMT),emergency services reached the scene near the village of Zemmer, policesaid in a statement.
The airman was taken to hospital. Police said it was not immediately clearhow seriously he was injured in the crash.
Authorities blocked off a large zone around the crash site includingseveral roads, the police statement added, urging drivers to avoid the area.
A spokesman for the nearby US military airbase at Spangdahlem told AFP hehad no further information about the crash, its causes or the health of thepilot.
Germany is no stranger to military aircraft crashes, including in its ownshortage-plagued Bundeswehr armed forces.
In June this year, two of the air force’s Eurofighter jets crashed aftercolliding in mid-air in northeastern Germany.
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One of the pilots was killed, while the other ejected to safety.
Less than a week later, a helicopter pilot died when his aircraft crashednear an army training centre.
The last American military crash in Germany dates back to 2015, when one ofthe Spangdahlem base’s F-16 fighters went down in northern Bavaria.
In that incident, the pilot surviving after ejecting from the plane. -APP/AFP
