A Ukrainian pilot killed in the first known F-16 fighter jet crash in the war-torn country late last month as was “chasing” a cruise missile at the time, Kyiv’s army chief has said. No further details were offered on the cause of the fatal incident as an investigation rumbles on.
One of Ukraine’s scarce and recently-received F-16 fighter jets crashed in late August, killing its pilot, Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes.
“I want to say that the pilot who died, he shot down two missiles and he was just attacking, chasing the third cruise missile, using on-board weapons,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi told CNN.
The crash happened just weeks after the first Western deliveries of the U.S.-made fourth-generation aircraft to Ukraine. Although the loss of F-16s is inevitable in an active conflict, the crash is nonetheless a blow to the Ukrainian Air Force, which has long waited for the advanced fighter jets donated by its allies.
Two MiG-29 planes fly over the square in honor of the fallen hero-pilot during the rite of burial of Ukrainian F-16 pilot Oleksiy Mes. on the Day of Remembrance for Fallen Heroes, as hundreds attended a farewell ceremony for the deceased tactical aviation pilot in the central square of the city on August 29, 2024 in Shepetivka, in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) Ukraine. The results of the investigation into Lt. Col. Mes’ death “will be known to everyone shortly,” Ukraine’s commander-in-chief said.
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Ukraine’s air force said in a statement that Mes had died while “repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack,” taking out three cruise missiles and an attack drone. The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces separately said that contact was lost with the F-16 while it repelled Russian missile strikes.
Speculation has surrounded the cause of the crash after Mariana Bezugla, a Ukrainian politician sitting on the country’s parliamentary defense committee, said the F-16 had fallen victim to friendly fire from a Patriot air defense system. Syrskyi declined to comment on whether friendly fire was responsible for the crash.
An unnamed U.S. defense official told Reuters that Russian fire did not appear to be the culprit, pointing to other possible reasons such as mechanical failure or pilot error.
A commission within Ukraine’s defense ministry is handling the investigation and will publish its conclusions “shortly,” Syrskyi said, calling the crash a “catastrophe.”
Ukraine’s F-16 pilots are “highly trained,” Syrskyi said, adding: “They were trained in the educational institutions of our partner countries, and of course, the best pilots were selected who already had experience in effectively using the aircraft that are in service with the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Kyiv officials have publicly expressed some frustration with Ukraine’s allies over training schedules and the number of pilots able to complete training in Western countries.
The Russian ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, said the U.S. had “failed to train the Ukrainians.”
“We, of course, train our pilots and they train every day, they are preparing to act against various types of enemy air attacks,” Syrskyi said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly dismissed Ukraine’s air force commander, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, following the crash. Although the Ukrainian leader did not directly reference the crash, he said in his evening address days after the pilot’s death came to light that Kyiv’s top officials must “take care of people,” adding: “I am immensely grateful to all our military pilots.”
