Pilot killed after Thai air force fighter jet crashes during drill

BANGKOK – A Thai air force F-16A fighter jet crashed Friday during a drill in central Thailand, killing the pilot, an air force spokesman said.

The single-seat jet crashed at the air force’s training ground in Lopburi province during a weapon-training flight, Air Vice Marshal Montol Suchookorn said.

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

Thailand’s air force has about 50 active F-16s in three fleets. The crashed jet was first used in 1988 and has undergone regular maintenance, Montol 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 U.S. crashed in northeastern Thailand but the pilots safely ejected.