An F-16C assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron at Osan AB, South Korea, crashed on Wednesday near Kunsan Air Base in that country during a routine training mission, announced Kunsan officials. The pilot safely ejected before the F-16 crashed into a rice field, they said. “We are grateful the pilot is safe and that no one was injured,” said Col. Patrick McKenzie, commander of Osan’s 51st Fighter Wing, parent unit of the 36th FS. He added, “Our main priority now is conducting an investigation to determine what happened.” The Air Force will provide additional details as they become available, said the Kunsan officials.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.