Fighter jet crashes in Turkey at night

A Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed in western Balikesir province early Wednesday, killing its pilot, according to the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.

"At 00:56 local time (21:56 GMT), radio contact and the location of our F-16, which took off from the 9th Main Jet Base Command in Balikesir, were lost," the ministry said.

As a result of the immediately initiated search and rescue operations, it was determined that our aircraft had crashed, and its wreckage was found.

The investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, it added.