A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16 jet crashed at Tengah Air Base shortly after takeoff on Wednesday afternoon.
The Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) said the plane experienced a “problem” during take-off at around 12:35 p.m., adding that the pilot managed to eject.
“The pilot is conscious and can walk. He receives medical help. No other staff were harmed,” the ministry said.
Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said in an update that the pilot was not seriously injured.
“He is mobile, conscious and talking. However, as a precaution, he will remain in hospital for observation,” Ng wrote in a Facebook post.
“His vigilance and adherence to safety procedures during the ejection saved his life.”
MINDEF said investigations are ongoing and added that it’ll provide updates as soon as they can be found.
When CNA arrived at Tengah Air Base around 2:45 p.m., there was no noticeable activity. Uniformed personnel who stood at the doorway to the airbase declined to talk to the media.
Singapore has been operating the F-16 for nearly 30 years.
The last time one in all the corporate’s fighters crashed was 20 years ago, in May 2004, when an RSAF F-16C crashed during an evening training mission within the US state of Arizona.
The crash killed a 25-year-old Singaporean pilot who was initially reported missing.
The board of inquiry concluded that the incident occurred attributable to human aspects, stating that the pilot could have experienced gravity-induced blackout or spatial disorientation, which resulted in him being unable to extricate the aircraft from the inverted position.
Ng said that while the RSAF had reliable safety records, he was “clearly disillusioned” by Wednesday’s incident.
“The RSAF goal must continue to be zero accidents,” he said. “Full investigations are ongoing to ensure all factors have been identified and decisively removed.”
Singapore’s F-16 fleet has recently been modernized to reinforce their capabilities and ensure their operational readiness by the mid-2030s.
These improvements include energetic electronically scanned array radar, which allows the F-16 to trace and interact multiple targets at greater ranges, and an all-weather ground attack capability, which allows it to hit targets with more practical precision munitions.
The aging F-16 fleet will eventually get replaced by Lockheed Martin’s F-35 family.
Singapore announced in February that it might buy eight F-35As, adding to an earlier order of 12 F-35 “B” variant aircraft.
