F-16 Jet Crashes in Northern Belgium; Birdstrike Suspected

An F-16 fighter jet crashed in northern Belgium while on a training mission from the Kleine- Brogel air base near the town of Peer, the country’s military said. No one was injured.

The accident occurred at 3:01 p.m. local time about one kilometer from the Kleine-Brogel base, the military said today in an emailed statement. The pilot was able to eject and was found safe, it said. No one else was hurt in the incident, Belga newswire reported.

An investigation is under way and initial information indicates that a collision with birds could be the cause, according to the statement by the military.

At least 37 of Belgium's F-16 aircraft have crashed in almost 35 years of service in the country, according to Belga. The nation ordered 160 of the planes in the 1970s and 1980s, the newswire said.

The mayor of Peer activated the town’s municipal disaster plan after the accident, according to Belga.

The Kleine-Brogel air base is home to Belgium’s 10th Tactical Wing, which has taken part in international crisis missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya and Afghanistan as well as NATO defense missions, according to its website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jones Hayden in Brussels at jhayden1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tim Quinson at tquinson@bloomberg.net