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.
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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.
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