Ukraine 'lost contact' with F-16 during combat, pilot ejected, Air Force says
The Air Force "lost contact" with an F-16 jet during a mission to repel a Russian aerial attack overnight on May 16 following an emergency situation on board, the Air Force reported.
The pilot diverted the plane away from populated areas and ejected, after which he was found by a search and rescue team, according to the statement.
According to preliminary data, the F-16 pilot destroyed three Russian aerial targets and was attacking a fourth one with an aircraft cannon. Following an unspecified emergency, contact was lost at around 3:30 a.m., forcing the pilot to eject.
The Air Force did not provide further details on the plane's ultimate fate or its likely crash site.
"The pilot's condition is satisfactory, he is safe and his life and health are not in danger," the statement read.
Ukraine received its first U.S.-made fourth-generation F-16 jets from the Netherlands and Denmark in 2024, deploying them to counter Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force lost its first F-16 aircraft in a crash in August 2024, leading to the death of its pilot, Oleksii Mes. A second F-16 pilot, Pavlo Ivanov, was killed during a combat mission this April.
Anna Fratsyvir
