Hungarian Gripen fighter jet crashes near Szolnok as pilot ejects safely

Aircraft crash near Szolnok

A Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet operated by the Hungarian Armed Forces crashed on Monday, 24 August 2026, in the vicinity of the central Hungarian town of Szolnok. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced the crash in a public post on Facebook at approximately 11:35 local time, stating that the specific cause of the accident was not yet known. Szolnok is an urban centre with approximately 71,000 residents situated along the international E60 transit route connecting Western Europe to the Black Sea port of Constanța, located about 130 kilometres in a straight line from the Romanian city of Oradea. Preliminary assessments established that no civilian infrastructure was damaged and no bystanders suffered injuries during the event.

For reasons that are currently unknown, a Gripen fighter jet of the Hungarian Armed Forces crashed near Szolnok a few minutes ago. The pilot managed to eject. The investigation is underway, and the defence minister is on his way to the scene.

Pilot ejection and emergency response

The pilot on board the fighter jet executed an emergency ejection before the aircraft struck the ground. Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi addressed the incident in a video message published on Facebook, confirming that the pilot was alive and had been picked up by an ambulance. Ruszin-Szendi stated that medical personnel found no injuries resulting from the ejection procedure. According to the defence minister, the pilot worked until the final moment to steer the descending jet away from residential areas, successfully directing the aircraft to hit ground within military terrain.

Official investigation on site

Following the crash, Hungarian military and government officials initiated emergency protocols to secure the site and inspect the wreckage. Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi and the Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Armed Forces departed immediately for the crash location outside Szolnok. Technical investigators from the armed forces launched an official inquiry to establish the sequence of events and identify the technical or operational factors that caused the aircraft to go down. Prime Minister Magyar confirmed in follow-up comments on his post that initial checks recorded zero casualties and zero civilian damage.

Hungarian Gripen fleet history

The Hungarian Air Force has operated Swedish-built Gripen multirole fighter jets since 2006, when the first aircraft was delivered from Sweden to enter service in Hungary. The aircraft have since constituted the primary fighter capability for Hungarian airspace defense and regional security commitments. In February 2024, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met in Budapest with then Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. At a joint press conference held during that visit, both government leaders announced that Hungary would supplement its existing fleet of 14 Swedish Gripen fighters with four additional aircraft.