Article Posted on : - Dec 03, 2012

A file photo.

RIYADH (AFP): A Saudi F-15 fighter with only the pilot on board crashed into Gulf waters while on a training mission in the kingdom's Eastern Province, the defence ministry announced Monday.

The plane fell into "Saudi territorial waters and the search for the pilot is still ongoing," the ministry said, adding that an investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash.

The "accident" took place on "a routine mission led by Lieutenant Pilot Fahad bin Faleh al-Masareer on Sunday evening" from King Abdul Aziz air base in the Eastern Province, it said, in a statement carried by official news agency SPA.

A similar incident took place last May when another Saudi F-15 crashed in the same region and its pilot was killed.