Poland’s AirSHOW Radom 2025 cancelled following crash.
Firefighters rushed to the scene after the aircraft did not recover after barreling down the runway and hitting the ground. The accident happened at around 19:30 local time (17:30 GMT).
Video on social media showed the F-16 fighter jet nose-diving and then erupting into a ball of flames as it crashed during a practice session before this year’s Radom Air Show.
Local reports state that the pilot, part of an elite group of NATO air units known as “Tiger Demo”, was not seen ejecting from the plane before the crash.
The AirSHOW Radom 2025, which was due to take place this weekend, has been cancelled.
Poland first bought US-made F-16s, a jet key to NATO’s defence strategy, in 2003 and has since been in the process of upgrading its fleet amid its boosted defence spending in the wake of Russia’s 2023 invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
In a post on X, the Defence General Staff of Italy, a fellow NATO member, expressed “profound sorrow” following the crash.
Latvia’s minister of defence, who visited Polish troops stationed in the Eastern European country earlier on Thursday, also posted on X that he was “deeply saddened” by the death.
“My thoughts are with his family and comrade soldiers,” he said.
