Syrian Fighter Pilot Defects, Asks for Asylum in Jordan

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(CAIRO) -- A Syrian fighter pilot has defected and requested political asylum in neighboring Jordan.

The colonel was flying a training mission in southern Syria in a MiG-21 Thursday morning when he went missing.  Syria's state news agency reported that it lost contact with the pilot before Jordanian officials confirmed the pilot landed at a military base in Mafraq, Jordan.  

The Syrian opposition claimed to have encouraged him to defect.  It's the first defection of its kind in the country's 16-month uprising that has already claimed between 12,000 and 14,000 lives.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio