A plane has made a dramatic crash landing at a popular Greek airport before exploding into flames.
The F-16 fighter jet was on a training flight when it crash-landed at the busy Zakynthos airport, forcing one of Greece’s most popular summer holiday terminals to suddenly close.
The aircraft landed at about 13:45 local time (10:45 GMT) on Thursday after developing a technical fault, the air force said.
The pilot survived the crash and is in “good health,” with the cause of the incident now being investigated.
Greek media have reported that a fire may have broken out on board, which worsened due to the crash landing, prompting an emergency response from firefighters and airport personnel.
The jet somehow managed to land without deploying the proper landing gear, causing it to chaotically slide dozens of metres along the runway, Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper reported.
Shocking videos of the disaster have emerged on social media, showing the jet up in flames while firefighters use large water hoses to extinguish the fire.
The Greek air force said the plane was from the 335 Squadron of the 116th Combat Wing based at Araxos Air Base in western Greece.
The runway had to be closed following the incident, causing major delays.
The airport’s arrivals and departure boards show information about all of Thursday’s remaining flights delayed until 21:00, including those scheduled to leave hours earlier.
The crash has occurred right at the start of Europe’s popular summer holiday season, with thousands of tourists estimated to travel around Greece in the coming weeks.
A specialist air force team is expected to travel to the Ionian island to remove the aircraft from the runway and allow airport operations to resume.
The incident comes just days after the wreckage of a Boeing 737 plane that suddenly went missing after departing the Middle East was successfully located.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, radar data showed the aircraft suddenly losing altitude and “rapidly descending” before making a sharp turn just minutes later.
The Boeing 737, operated by Karachi-based K2 Airways, was a cargo plane with five people on board, travelling from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi, Pakistan.
On Wednesday, the country’s navy and maritime rescue agency said after searching for 12 hours, they had “successfully located and identified wreckage of K2 Airways Cargo B737, which was declared missing last night,” the PAA statement posted on X read.
The wreckage was found in the Arabian Sea, off Ormara town on Pakistan’s southern coast, it said.
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