Slovakia’s Soviet-made Mig-29 jet crashes, pilot survives

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – The Slovak Defence Ministry says a Soviet-made Mig-29 military jet of the country’s air forces has crashed during a training flight.

The ministry says the pilot ejected before the crash that occurred late Saturday and survived. He is hospitalized in stable and not-life-threatening condition.

The military has grounded its fleet of Mig-29s until the cause of the crash is investigated. It took place near the city of Nitra, 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Bratislava, the capital.

Slovakia signed a deal last year to buy 14 F-16 military jets from Lockheed Martin as it seeks to replace the Soviet-era jets.

The first of the jets are scheduled to be delivered by 2022.