Iran, Tehran (AP) -Iranian fighters crashed near central Isfahan on Saturday after an engine failure, but both pilots survived, media reports.
The pilot was taken to a local hospital, official IRNA news agency said. There was a technical failure in the Grumman F-14 Tomcat engine, which led to a crash.
A clip by the agency showed a row of smoke swirling from the wreckage of a desert aircraft.
The Iranian Air Force has an assortment of US-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the Tomcat F-14 is made in the United States. There are also Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes. Decades of western sanctions have made it difficult to obtain spare parts and maintain aging aircraft.
Iran has a similar history of crashes among the declining fleets. In May, a fighter crashed in the central desert of Iran, killing both pilots. In February, fighters rushed into the football field of Tabriz, a city in the northwestern part of the country, killing both pilots and civilians.