F-16 crashes in Lop Buri

[Spitfire]

Pilot killed in F-16 crash

An F-16 fighter jet crashed in Lop Buri during a training session on Friday, killing the pilot, the Royal Thai Air Force said. The aircraft from the 1st Wing in Nakhon Ratchasima with Flt Lt Noppanon in the cockpit crashed in Khok Sampong district in Lop Buri about 2.40pm while it was taking part in missile-launch training in neighbouring Chai Badan district, air force spokesman Monthon Satchukorn said.

"The pilot could not eject himself out of the plane in time," Lop Buri governor Thanakom Chongchira told AFP by telephone.

ACM Monthon said the body of the 30-year-old pilot was found in the wreckage and officers were investigating the cause of the crash.

The training exercise was a Royal Thai Air Force drill and it was not part of the Cobra Gold military exercise, he added.

The air force has about 50 active F-16s in three fleets. The jet that crashed was first used in 1988 and has undergone regular maintenance, ACM Monthon told The Associated Press.

In 2010, another F-16A crashed near the Thai-Myanmar border during a training flight, killing the pilot. A year later, two F-16 planes taking part in a joint military exercise with the US crashed in northeastern Thailand but the pilots safely ejected.

The air force said the pilot's body would be sent for a religious ceremony in his home province of Sa Kaeo.

Source - Bangkok Post

http://www2.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... -uncertain

Thought - First used in 1988, the fighter jets are getting old, even if serviced regularly. RIP pilot.....sad to see this happen.