The Finnish government on Wednesday said a fighter jet belonging to its Air Force crashed near an airport in northern Finland.
This was as it said that the pilot had ejected from the aircraft and was taken to hospital.
Public broadcaster Yle reported that smoke was seen rising from the general direction of where the aircraft went down and there was a strong smell of smoke in the air, adding that the area was cordoned off by local police.
“An F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet plunged to the ground in the Rovaniemi airport area,” the Air Force said in a statement.
It later reiterated that the pilot had been taken to a medical facility to be examined and that no one had been injured on the ground.
The Rovaniemi airport operator said separately that the airport remained open.
Newspot reports that Finland has 62 Hornet fighter jets bought between 1992 and 2000.
The Nordic country in 2021 reportedly decided to replace them with Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters.
