A pilot of an F-16 fighter jet belonging to the Belgian Air Force was left suspended from a high-voltage electricity line by the strappings of his parachute on Thursday after ejecting from his plane when it went into a dive over the western French coast.

The jet’s other pilot, who also parachuted out, reached the ground safely. The aircraft crashed about 20 miles east of Lann-Bihoué air base, near Lorient.

French emergency services told Ouest-France, a regional newspaper, that the pilot’s position hanging from the power cables complicated his rescue. But the prefecture of Morbihan, the local authority, said that firefighters had rescued the pilot, and that both pilots were being treated by emergency workers. It added that 15 people had been evacuated from eight houses in the area as a precautionary measure.