NATO: F-16 crash-lands on Italian airbase

BRUSSELS - An F-16 fighter-bomber crashed on landing Wednesday at an air base in southern Italy after completing a transfer flight from another base, a NATO official said.

He said the pilot ejected safely after landing on the outbound runway at the air base at Sigonella in western Sicily at 11:35 am.

The official, who could not be named in line with standing regulations, said the warplane had just arrived from an air base in Sardinia.

Sigonella is located about 360 miles (600 kilometers) north of Libya's capital, Tripoli. It has been used extensively by aircraft from several NATO nations for bombing missions over Libya. Non-NATO nations participating in the operation, including Sweden and the United Arab Emirates, also use it.

Italian police have opened a probe into the crash landing, NATO said in a statement. The alliance declined to reveal which country the F-16 belonged to.

No NATO aircraft had been lost since the alliance's missions over Libya started March 31. A U.S. F-15 crashed in Libya before NATO took over command of the strike missions.

The alliance has conducted almost 4,000 sorties in the past four weeks. More than 1,600 of those have been strike sorties.