An F-16 erupted in flames after crashing into a field in Michigan during a training exercise, prompting the pilot’s hospitalization and the evacuation of nearby residents.
The fighter jet went down on Thursday near a National Guard base in Alpena, about 190 miles from Detroit. The crash sent thick plumes of smoke into the air and left the pilot injured.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea and Sergeant Derek Gutierrez of the 149th Fighter Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas said the pilot was conscious and speaking with law enforcement while being treated at a local hospital.
Gutierrez did not identify the pilot, citing military policy. He said the aircraft was among several F-16s from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, participating in the training exercises in Michigan.
Audio recorded by LiveATC appeared to capture another pilot telling air traffic controllers that his wingman may have struck a bird before the crash.
‘We have a possible Mayday. My wingman I believe may have taken a bird,’ the pilot said.
A controller offered to guide the pilot to airports in nearby Frankfort or Traverse City, but he said his wingman had already crashed.
The pilot safely ejected before the fighter jet struck the ground.
An F-16 fighter jet, pictured in a stock image, crashed on Thursday during training exercises near a National Guard base in Alpena, Michigan, injuring the pilot and sending smoke into the sky.
The pilot ejected and was conscious while receiving treatment at a local hospital. Another pilot told air traffic controllers that he believed his wingman may have hit a bird before crashing.
Gutierrez said he was not made aware of a possible bird strike, but added that the crash remains under investigation.
‘Once we get some more information and it’s approved, we can release it to you,’ he said.
Nathan Smith, a nearby construction worker, said he began to record the jet as it passed him.
‘It was strange to see a jet flying that low and slow,’ Smith said. ‘A few seconds after the video cuts, I heard a loud bang, which I believe now to be the pilot ejecting, but I didn’t think of that at the time.’
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The crash prompted an evacuation of nearby residents, as Michigan State Police said on X that ‘due to a hazardous chemical spill’ related to the plane crash ‘all business and residential properties within a one-mile radius of County Road 633 and Blair Townhall Road are being evacuated.’
Nearby residents were directed to shelter in place before state police evacuated locals. The nature of the spill remains unclear, but F-16 jets use hydrazine, a toxic chemical, as a component of emergency power unit fuel.
Wendy Sobeck said she and her husband heard a ‘very loud crash’ just minutes from their 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.
Michigan State Police said that ‘due to a hazardous chemical spill’ related to the plane crash all business and residential properties within a one-mile radius…are being evacuated’
‘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.
Shellie Doornbos and her husband told CNN that she and her husband were driving home when they saw the plane on fire.
‘We could hear explosions coming from the fire and asked a police officer what it was we were hearing as we were driving away, and he told us it was a fighter jet crash and the explosions were ammunition,’ she said.
Police lifted the evacuation order just before 10pm.
The Daily Mail reached out to the Alpena National Guard base and Michigan State Police for comment.