A U.S. F-16 fighter jet pilot safely ejected before the aircraft crashed in northern Michigan on Thursday afternoon, officials said.
\n\nThe incident occurred in Grand Traverse County when the jet “experienced an incident” during a routine training mission, a spokesperson for the Texas Military Department said.
\n\nMichael Kroll, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, confirmed the jet was an F-16 from the Texas Air National Guard.
\n\nThe pilot is stable and was transferred to a local hospital, Michigan State Police said.
\n\nThe training mission originated out of the Air National Guard’s Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, the military department said.
\n\nThere have been no reports of civilian injuries in the incident, which occurred in a residential area, Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.
\n\nBlonshine said she did not witness the crash but heard it from her office.
\n\nA witness, Nicole Conrad, said her kids noticed the military jet first.
\n\n“I hear a big boom, and then I see a colorful parachute and this guy floating down from the sky,” she told NBC News.
\n\nEd Wilson, another witness, said he saw the plane going down, followed by an explosion…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/