"The second crewman [of the crashed fighter jet] was a serviceman of the US Air National Guard," the Ukrainian Air Force press center said in a statement.
On October 16, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff reported the crash of the Su-27 fighter jet in the Vinnytsia Region. According to the Ukrainian military, both pilots — Ukrainian and US servicemen — died as a result of the incident.
READ MORE: Two Pilots Die Following Su-27 Fighter Jet Crash in Ukraine — General Staff
The Ukrainian General Staff then removed the mention of the US serviceman from the statement, while the US Air Force acknowledged that a US service member "was involved in this incident."
The plane crashed at around 2:00 p.m. GMT in the Vinnytsia region in west-central Ukraine while performing a flight as part of the Clear Sky 2018 drills, the Ukrainian military prosecutor's office said in a statement.
