An Iranian F-5 fighter jet crashed in southern Iran on Sunday killing its pilot, state media reported.
The jet, a training aircraft, crashed as it attempted to land in Dezful in the southwestern Khuzestan province, IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, August 26.
Its pilot was killed but his co-pilot survived and was hospitalized.
“The fighter jet crashed in Dezfoul (a city in Khuzestan province) and Colonel (Manouchehr) Fattahi, the pilot, was martyred,” Fars News Agency reported Dezfoul police chief Ali Elhami as saying.
The cause of the crash was under investigation, Elhami added.
Iran bought its F-5 fighters from the United States before the 1979 revolution and still has 48 in service, according to the latest estimates by Jane’s IHS Markit.
Last week, the defense ministry unveiled Iran’s first domestically built fighter jet, the Kowsar, which is closely modeled on the F-5.
With reporting from AFP
