The "Brodospas moon", a Croatian anchor handling vessel, on Monday night joined in the search for a U.S. F-16 fighter jet that is feared to have crashed on Monday during a training exercise over the Adriatic Sea.
The director of the Brodospas in the Croatian coastal city of Split, Mladen Brodaric, said that they had received a call at about 2130 hrs Monday with a request that the Croatian vessel might also join in the search.
"We joined the operation immediately and we will be searching as long as necessary," Brodaric told the press on Tuesday.
This aircraft, together with another three planes, was performing a training mission over the Adriatic Sea, when U.S. Air Force lost contact with the F-16 at about 8 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), according to the Reuters news agency.
The jet disappeared from radar screens shortly after the pilot informed air traffic controllers that he was having problems.
A fuel slick has been sighted at sea in the maritime zone off Emilia-Romagna.
