12 Aug, 2017 13:42

US fighter jet makes crash landing at Bahrain airport (PHOTOS)

An engine malfunction forced a US fighter pilot to eject from his aircraft during an emergency landing at Bahrain International Airport. The pilot had taken off from a US supercarrier in the Gulf before the incident on Saturday.

Delays were reported by passengers at the airport following the incident. Images corroborated by RT.com show the F/A-18E next to the runway tipped on to one wing.

Breaking; just a few minutes ago a US-navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has made a crash landing on runway 30 in Bahrain. Photos taken from the lounge at the main airport terminal, it shows the aircraft made a crash landing that left a long trail of debris along the runway and ended up on the side with the stabilators and landing gear apparently heavily damaged. Nobody seems to be injured fortunately, but the airport is closed for now. #news #crash #avgeek #aviationnews #aviation #flight #flying #aircraft #breaking #f18 #usnavy #aviationphoto #instaphoto #instanews #instadaily #instagramaviation @instagramaviation
A post shared by Christiaan van Heijst (@jpcvanheijst) on Aug 12, 2017 at 4:24am PDT

The aircraft had planned to divert to Sheik Isa Airbase following the malfunction. When this could not be accomplished it made the landing instead at Bahrain International Airport, the US Navy’s 5th fleet said in a statement.

#USAF F-18 US jet has an incident at Bahrain international airport. Probably because of the heat. Decided to sit this one down. #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/Ylhu6IdKnA
— Sari Mashal (@Eng_Sari_Mashal) August 12, 2017

“Due to the malfunction, the aircraft could not be stopped on the runway and the pilot ejected from the aircraft as it departed the runway,” the statement said.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Transport and Communications confirmed the incident, saying no injuries occurred.