ByREUTERS
Updated:

A Hungarian Gripen fighter jet crashed near the town of Szolnok on Monday, with the pilot having successfully ejected from the plane, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook post.

The cause of the accident was currently unclear, and there were no injuries or casualties, Magyar said. No civilian infrastructure was harmed, he added.

The minister of defense was on his way to the scene, and an inquiry into the cause of the accident was underway, Magyar said.

"According to a preliminary report, there were no injuries, and there was no harm to civilian infrastructure," Magyar wrote on Facebook.

Gripen JAS 39 fighter aircraft of the Hungarian Air Force fly over the parliament building during a ceremony marking the country's national day attended by guests and ambassadors accredited to Hungary on August 20, 2026, in Budapest.
Gripen JAS 39 fighter aircraft of the Hungarian Air Force fly over the parliament building during a ceremony marking the country's national day attended by guests and ambassadors accredited to Hungary on August 20, 2026, in Budapest. (credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)

Pilot uninjured but placed in ambulance

"The pilot is in an ambulance; he is alive," Minister of Defense Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said in a Facebook video.

Hungary, a NATO member state, operates 18 JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft, based in Kecskemét.

In 2015, a Hungarian Gripen crash-landed in central Hungary due to a technical fault. The pilot ejected, and the jet was later repaired.