Hungarian Gripen fighter jet crashes, pilot ejects safely

One of the Hungarian Armed Forces' Gripen fighter jets crashed late on August 24 morning,  Prime Minister Péter Magyar said.

"For reasons that are not yet known, a Gripen fighter jet of the Hungarian Defence Forces crashed a few minutes ago near Szolnok. The pilot successfully ejected. An investigation is under way, and the defence minister is on his way to the scene," the prime minister wrote on his Facebook page.

A short time later, Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi reported that the pilot had been taken to hospital by ambulance and that no one else was injured in the accident, because the pilot had done everything he could to ensure the aircraft came down on military land. The Hungarian army also has an air base near Szolnok.

The armed forces currently have 14 Gripen fighter jets, which are stationed at Kecskemét. The Gripens regularly take part in international operations and, in the second half of last year, also played a role in protecting the airspace of the Baltic states.

By Vafa Guliyeva