SEOUL, March 31 (UPI) -- Two South Korean military pilots ejected Tuesday before their F-16 fighter jet crashed off the country's west coast, air force officials said.
It wasn't known if the pilots were injured, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The jet crashed off the coast of South Chungcheong province after taking off from an airfield in Seosan, south of Seoul, Yonhap reported.
"We're collecting debris of the aircraft around the area and have set up a unit to investigate the cause of the crash," an unidentified air force official Told Yonhap.
The military jet was the 19th to crash in South Korea since 2000, when two pilots were killed in the crash of an F-16 in the Yellow Sea.
South Korea owns an estimated 130 F-16 fighter jets, each costing about $43 million, Yonhap reported.
