I barely was done outfitting my new fighter, when Dispatch called in an emergency for all units around Manhattan concerning a group of Xeno having breached into Mahattan's space. Regardless of the risk of the situation and my inexperience, I believed that I could handle the situation by myself.
It seems like I was wrong, though. I moved in to assist the first units that answered the call and attempted to get the criminals to hold down and cooperate with me, which they refused: my fighter was quickly picked out and shot down. Luckily, my pod quickly and safely brought me back on Manhattan's surface.
I believe I'll have to be more careful about the fights I pick, in the future. Earlier even, as Sergeant Vlad specified, my fighter was also shot down by a criminal of the Ministry.