U.S. Fighter Plane Crashes Off Japan; Pilot Safe

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Tuesday April 3 6:03 AM ET U.S. Fighter Plane Crashes Off Japan; Pilot Safe

TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. pilot was rescued on Tuesday after ejecting safely from his fighter jet just before it crashed into the sea off northern Japan, officials said.

The F-16 military jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Aomori prefecture about 373 miles north of Tokyo around 4:28 p.m. and the pilot was rescued by a Japanese naval helicopter, a Japanese Self-Defense Forces spokesman said.

``The plane crashed into open waters off the shores of Misawa (in Aomori prefecture),'' he said. ``We have rescued the pilot, who was floating on a emergency raft about 100 meters off the shore of Misawa.''

Last November, a U.S. pilot was killed after two F-16 fighter jets collided in mid-air during joint military exercises between Japan and the United States. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010403/ts/crash_japan_dc_1.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), April 03, 2001


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