A Greek Air Force F-16 (Block 52+ variant) fighter jet has crashed into a sea off the small island of Psathoura, in the northern Aegean.

The pilot managed to escape from the single-seater aircraft using the ejection system. He was located and collected by a Super Puma helicopter and is being transferred to a hospital.

The fighter jet, which belongs to the 337th Squadron of the 110th Fighter Wing, was participating in a training flight (the area is a firing range), the Hellenic Air Force said in a press release.

Authorities dispatched a Super Puma and a Sikorsky S70 helicopter from Marathon, a Canadair from Thessaloniki, and the frigate Aegeus, which the Coast Guard assisted.

Designed as an air superiority day fighter, the F-16 evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft with over 4,600 built since 1976.

Although no longer purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are being built for export.

Greek pilots fall in the line of duty
In December 2023 a Greek Air Force pilot was killed when his training jet crashed in the countryside near the southern town of Kalamata.

The accident happened on the last flight of 40-year-old Major Epaminondas Kosteas before he was due to take leave.

In July 2023, the captain and co-pilot of a firefighting airplane in Greece were both killed when their aircraft crashed on the island of Evia while attempting to put out a wildfire.

Flight Lt. Christos Moulas, 34, and Second Lt. Periklis Stefanidis, 27, were on board the water-dousing aircraft which belonged to the 355 Tactical Transport Squadron, part of the 112 Combat Wing at Elefsina Air Base.

In February 2023, 31-year-old Captain Efstathios Tsitlakidis was killed when the F-4E Phantom II crashed during a training exercise in the Ionian Sea.  Co-pilot, Lieutenant Marios Touroutsikas, 29, also died in the accident.

Greece remembers Giorgos Baltadoros, the fighter pilot who died on April 12, 2018, when his Mirage 2000-5 plane crashed into the Aegean after a mission intercepting Turkish jets which had violated Greek airspace.

Eighteen years ago, pilot Konstantinos Iliakis joined those Greek military personnel who over the years fell in the line of duty while protecting the country. It was May 23, 2006 when the 35-year-old Hellenic Air Force pilot lost his life as his plane crashed on Karpathos island in the Dodecanese. He had been trying to intercept Turkish fighter jets which had entered Greek airspace over the Aegean.

These incidents and many others are a reminder of the risks that pilots face every day. They are also a testament to the bravery and dedication of these men and women who put their lives on the line to protect their country.