U.S. Pilot Parachutes To Safety After Military Jet Crashes in Japan
A U.S. military jet crashed today in a remote, forested area in northern Japan, but the pilot bailed out safely and was taken by helicopter to an American military base, officials said. The pilot of the F-16C, Maj. Wyman E. Vanedoe, was listed in good condition soon after the crash, the U.S. Forces Japan Media Liaison Office in Tokyo said. Vanedoe's home town was not immediately available, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Isao Teranagare, spokesman of Iwate Prefecture (state) Police, said the pilot was taken by a Japanese rescue helicopter to the U.S. Air Base at Misawa in northern Japan. No one else was aboard the fighter, he said. The U.S. aircraft, belonging to the 14th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Misawa, was on a routine training flight with two other F-16s in partly cloudy skies when it crashed in a forested area in Iwate, police said. Iwate is about 290 miles north of Tokyo. The cause of the crash was under investigation. On March 22, 1987, another F-16 crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Misawa, 360 miles north of Tokyo. In that crash, the pilot also bailed out and was rescued by a helicopter. The F-16, a powerful air-to-surface fighter, has a combat range of about 575 miles, according to Jane's ``All The World's Aircraft.'' About 50 F-16s are stationed at Misawa. Misawa is located about 440 miles south of a Soviet military base near Yuzhno Sakhalinsk on the island of Sakhalin.
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