A pilot who was forced to ditch a U.S. Air Force jet in the North Pacific is safely on board a Coast Guard cutter bound for Alaska.
The unidentified pilot was forced to eject from a F-16 Falcon about 200-miles northeast of Hokkaido, Japan on Sunday. A nearby vessel picked up the pilot who was later was transferred to the freighter Manukai.
The Coast Guard cutter Munro rendezvoused with the freighter Manukai on Tuesday afternoon about 280-miles south of Dutch Harbor. The pilot is expected to be flown by the Munro’s H-65 helicopter to Cold Bay where they will be met by Department of Defense personnel.
