Asia-Pacific

Jordanian pilot killed when fighter jet crashes

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-23 21:17

AMMAN, Jordan _ A Jordanian pilot was killed Wednesday when his US-made F-5 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise, the Jordanian army said.

An army spokesman identified the pilot as Lt. Saeed Mohammed al-Abbadi, who apparently failed to eject himself from the plane before it crashed, the official Petra news agency reported.

The army said the F-5 was on a training mission but did not say what caused the crash.

A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the press, told The Associated Press that the plane "witnessed mechanical problems." The official declined to elaborate and would not give the location of the crash. He said the accident took place at 1100 a.m. (0800 GMT).

No other details were immediately available.

Jordan received several US-made fighter jets under US military grants as a reward for the kingdom's signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.