US draws first conclusions about F-16 crashed in Ukraine

US officials consider it unlikely that a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was shot down by "friendly fire" from a Patriot surface-to-air missile system. The New York Times reports that.

Friendly fire was probably not the cause of the downing of the F-16. American and Ukrainian investigators are considering different options, such as mechanical failure or pilot error," the newspaper writes.

The newspaper quoted Ukrainian military analysts as saying that it was too early to talk about the causes of the fighter's crash. However, they stressed that Western air defence systems and F-16 aircraft have never worked together under such difficult conditions as during the major Russian attack on 26 August.

For example, Anatoliy Khrapchynsky, a former Ukrainian Air Force officer admitted that debris from the destroyed missile could have hit a vital part of the aircraft.

The AFU General Staff said on 29 August that it had lost an F-16 fighter jet. It said that the US fighters demonstrated their effectiveness by shooting down four cruise missiles on 26 August.

However, during the approach to the target one of the aircraft lost contact. It was later learnt that the aircraft crashed and the pilot was killed. According to the Air Force, pilot Alexei Mes'y died that day after destroying three cruise missiles and one attack drone.