A Greek F-16 fighter jet crashed at a busy Zakynthos airport

A Hellenic Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed at Zakynthos airport, shutting down terminals during Greece’s busiest summer holiday season.

The plane, which was on a training flight, landed at 13:45 (10:45 GMT) on Thursday after a technical fault, the air force said.

He added that the pilot is in good health and the cause of the accident is being investigated.

According to Greek media reports, the plane received an on-board fire signal before landing and firefighters and airport staff responded immediately after it caught fire on the runway.

The fighter jet landed without deploying its landing gear and skidded dozens of meters down the runway, Greek newspaper Katmerini reported.

The Hellenic Air Force had no comment on this report.

A video surfaced on social media showing the plane being set on fire by firefighters.

The Air Force said the plane belonged to the 116th Fighter Wing’s 335 Squadron at Araxos Airport in western Greece.

The runway was closed following the incident, causing delays. The airport’s arrivals and departures boards will show information on Thursday’s remaining flights delayed until 21:00 – including those scheduled to depart hours earlier.

The event comes at the beginning of the summer holidays, thousands of tourists travel to the island per week, mainly from the United Kingdom.

A special air force team is expected to travel to the island of Ionia to remove the plane from the runway and allow airport operations to resume.