US F-16 crashes in Iraq, pilot dead - witnesses

FALLUJA, Iraq, Nov 27 (Reuters) An F-16 fighter on a combat mission near Baghdad crashed today, and the pilot appeared to have died after ejecting.

A local journalist who shot film of the wreckage of the plane after it came down north of Falluja in Iraq's western Anbar province said he was in no doubt the pilot was dead.

The US military confirmed the crash but said it had no information on the fate of the pilot or the cause of the crash.

The film showed the bloodied and motionless body of what appeared to be a man in a flight suit wearing a parachute harness lying in a field strewn with the wreckage of the plane.

''A United States Air Force F-16CG engaged in support of coalition ground combat operations crashed approximately 20 miles northwest of Baghdad today at about 1335 hours Baghdad time (1605 IST) with one pilot on board,'' a US military statement said.

''A board will be convened to investigate the incident.'' Residents in the town of Garma said the crash site had been surrounded by US troops.

While helicopter crashes in Iraq are not uncommon, it is rare for a fixed-wing aircraft to come down.

In January 2005 10 British servicemen were killed when a Hercules transport plane was brought down by ground-to-air fire. In May that year two US fighter jets crashed after apparently colliding in mid-air.

REUTERS LL RN2255