Fighter badly damaged after emergency landing at Zakynthos.
Greece’s Zakynthos airport has been forced to close its single runway after a landing accident involving a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter.
The air navigation service has issued a NOTAM stating that runway 16/34 is closed for “operational reasons”.
It adds that only helicopter flights for ambulance or government and military reasons are being accepted.
According to the Hellenic Air Force the F-16 was participating in a training flight on 9 July when it “made an emergency landing” which the service attributes to “a malfunction”.
Images from the scene show the aircraft burning, having apparently come to rest on its fuselage underside.
The air force says the pilot survived and is “in good health”.
It states that the fighter was part of the 335th Squadron of the 116th Fighter Wing, and the cause of the occurrence is being investigated.
Zakynthos airport, which typically handles around 2.2 million passengers annually, is a popular holiday destination and has entered its peak travel season. The airport is operated by Fraport Greece, a division of the German management firm which runs Frankfurt Main.
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