Gripen fighter jet crashes in Hungary, pilot survives

A Swedish-made JAS-39 Gripen fighter jet in service with the Hungarian Air Force has crashed in Hungary. The news was announced by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar on his Facebook page.

"The cause of the crash is not yet clear. There are no casualties or fatalities," Magyar wrote, adding that the investigation is ongoing and that Defence Minister Romulus Ruszin-Szendi is already at the scene.

The pilot survived and his condition is stable — he was airlifted by rescue helicopter to hospital for observation. No civilian infrastructure was damaged in the crash. According to the defence minister, the pilot fought to the last moment to steer the aircraft so it would go down within the boundaries of a military training range.

What is known about the circumstances

According to the Hungarian news portal blikk.hu, two Gripens had taken off together from the air base near the city of Kecskemét on a combat mission — both fully armed, fuelled and fitted with external fuel tanks. The pilot of the second aircraft was the one who alerted the crashing plane's pilot to flames coming from the engine.

The Hungarian armed forces currently operate 14 Gripen fighters, based at Kecskemét Air Base. These aircraft regularly take part in international missions — in the second half of last year, for instance, they helped patrol the airspace of the Baltic states.

About the Gripen aircraft

The JAS-39 Gripen is a Swedish-built single-engine, single-seat fighter with a delta wing and adjustable canards. Its design is deliberately aerodynamically unstable, which gives it high manoeuvrability and controllability at various altitudes. The aircraft is even capable of landing on a highway or a grass field.

The jet is powered by an RM12 engine, a modified version of the American GE F404-400, which is also used in F/A-18 Hornet fighters. Engine thrust is managed by an onboard computer that takes into account flight altitude and the aircraft's current weight. The plane is also fitted with an auxiliary power unit that keeps it operational for roughly another ten minutes even if the main engine fails.

Source: novinky.cz