Falcon forces Saudi F-15 jet to land

A Saudi pilot of a F-15 fighter had to make an emergency landing while his aide parachuted to safety after their aircraft nearly hit a large falcon, a newspaper reported on Monday.

The aide, a lieutenant in the Saudi air force, ejected out and parachuted east of the southern province of Asir, leaving the pilot, a captain, to steer the jet down in en emergency landing, Wojooh online Arabic language daily said.

Neither the pilot nor his aide were hurt in the incident which took place during a routine morning flight over Asir near the border with Yemen, the paper said.

“A fact-finding committee was set up to study the incident, which it found was caused by a falcon,” the paper said, adding that the bird was later found in that area without making clear if it was dead or alive.