Hungary’s Defence Ministry has shared a video, which shows Sándor Kádár, the highly experienced pilot of a Hungarian Air Force Gripen fighter, making an emergency landing before ejecting at the Kecskemét Air Base. The incident occurred on Wednesday is a blow to the Hungarian Air Force, which only had 13 Gripens left after one of its fighter jets crashed off the runway at a Czech military air base in May.
On Thursday Hungarian Defence Minister Csaba Hende presented Sándor Kádár with a military decoration. The minister said the pilot demonstrated bravery when he risked his life to save an aircraft of the Hungarian air force. He said the pilot had managed to land the aircraft in such a way that it can be repaired.
Meanwhile PM Viktor Orbán had asked Csaba Hende for a briefing on the recent accidents involving Gripen aircraft. The minister will report on the accidents at next Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Cabinet Chief János Lázár told reporters. The Hungarian government has no plans to ground Hungary’s Gripen aircraft, Lázár insisted.
The full video in Hungarian can be watched here.
via honvedelem.hu, index.hu and MTI photo: honvedelem.hu