F-16 fighter jet crashes in residential space in northern Michigan

A U.S. F-16 fighter jet pilot safely ejected earlier than the plane crashed in northern Michigan on Thursday afternoon, officers stated.

The incident occurred in Grand Traverse County when the jet “skilled an incident” throughout a routine coaching mission, a spokesperson for the Texas Military Department stated.

Michael Kroll, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, confirmed the jet was an F-16 from the Texas Air National Guard.

The pilot is secure and was transferred to an area hospital, Michigan State Police stated.

The coaching mission originated out of the Air National Guard’s Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, the army division stated.

There have been no reviews of civilian accidents within the incident, which occurred in a residential space, Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine stated in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.

Blonshine stated she didn’t witness the crash however heard it from her workplace.

A witness, Nicole Conrad, stated her children seen the army jet first.

“I hear a giant growth, after which I see a colourful parachute and this man floating down from the sky,” she informed NBC News.

Ed Wilson, one other witness, stated he noticed the aircraft happening, adopted by an explosion and black smoke.

“The jet simply went straight in with a nostril up and disappeared,” he stated.

Social media video verified by NBC News seems to point out a column of black smoke rising close to a house within the space of the reported crash.

A hazardous chemical spill associated to the crash led to an evacuation of all enterprise and residential properties inside a 1-mile radius, state police stated. The order was lifted as of 9:44 p.m.

Air visitors management audio obtained by NBC News describes the declaration of a doable mayday after the aircraft “could have taken a hen.” It goes on to explain “a number of black smoke” after it reported “it seems that they might have misplaced an engine and ejected.”

The Texas Military Department spokesperson stated the incident is underneath investigation.

An F-16 Fighting Falcon is a “compact, multi-role fighter plane” that’s “extremely maneuverable and has confirmed itself in air-to-air fight and air-to-surface assault,” according to the Air Force.