Military: An F-16 crashes during training in Michigan; pilot ejects safely

DETROIT (AP) — An F-16 fighter jet from Texas crashed in rural Michigan during a routine training exercise on Thursday, and the pilot ejected safely, a military spokesman said.

Sgt. Derek Gutierrez, a public affairs specialist with the 149th Fighter Wing, said the pilot was receiving medical treatment at a local hospital. Gutierrez declined to release details about the pilot’s identity or any injuries, citing military policy.

The plane was participating in training exercises at a National Guard base in Alpena, about 190 miles (305 kilometers) north of Detroit.

Witnesses reported hearing a loud crash, and images posted to social media showed a dark plume of smoke in the air.

Wendy Sobeck said she and her husband heard a “very loud crash” down the road, minutes from their rural home.

“We thought there was a car accident outside our house. We saw big billowing black smoke. We couldn’t tell what it was, so my husband got into his pickup truck and saw what happened,” Sobeck said. “You could see the plane debris in the field. Explosions kept happening.”

Fred Sobeck, 65, said he drove down the road and saw a “big fireball in the field” near a house and a camper, which were not hit.

“Police told me to get out of there because of explosions,” he said.

The jet was one of several F-16 aircraft from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, taking part in the Michigan training exercises, Gutierrez said.

The military began flying the first F-16s in 1979. There have been at least 14 “Class A mishaps” involving F-16s since 2000, according to the Air Force Safety Center. The Class A mishap designation is generally used when the damage totals more than $2 million, when an aircraft is destroyed or when a service member is killed.

In December, an F-16C Fighting Falcon with the Air Force’s elite Thunderbirds demonstration squadron crashed in the Southern California desert, and the pilot in that crash was also able to eject safely.