Pilot dies after F-16CM crashes at Shaw AFB, S.C.

July 1 (UPI) -- A pilot was killed late Tuesday when an F-16CM fighter plane crashed during a routine training mission at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., officials confirmed on Wednesday.

The U.S. Air Force aircraft, known as a Fighting Falcon, was assigned to the 20th Fight Wing at the base.

The identity of the pilot, who died after arrival at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, in Sumter, S.C., was not disclosed, although the pilot's death was confirmed in a press release by the Air Force.

A report from an Air Force-related Facebook page on Wednesday morning said that "the landing gear failed and they had to fly as low as possible so he could eject, the plane crashed and flipped."

No official information on the cause of the crash has been released by the Air Force.

It is the third crash of an Air Force plane in the past six weeks.

In separate incidents at Eglin Air Base, Fla., an F-22 Raptor plane crashed on May 15, as well as an F-35 Lightning II on May 20. In each case, the pilot ejected safely.

Additionally, an F-15C Eagle of the Oregon Air National Guard skidded off the runway while making an emergency landing at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on May 2. A C-130 cargo plane also overshot a runway at Camp Taji Airbase in Iraq, crashed into a wall and caught fire on May 8, injuring four people aboard.

The aircraft that crashed Tuesday is one of about 600 produced in the F-16 series.