An F-16 fighter jet with the US Air Force Thunderbirds, the elite aerial demonstration team, crashed in a Southern California desert, with the pilot safely ejecting moments before impact.
Following the incident, Staff Sgt Jovante Johnson, an Air Force spokesman, said in an email on Wednesday, December 3, that the pilot was in stable condition and was receiving medical care.
The cause of the crash, which happened around 10:45 a.m., was not made clear; however, as per the military officials, the accident took place during a training mission over controlled airspace.
According to emergency responders, the F-16C Fighting Falcon struck a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert near Trona, Calif., creating a plume of smoke and a sound that could be heard in the surrounding area.
The jet crashed about two miles south of Trona Airport but was not using the airport, George Bass, the facility's manager, said in a phone interview, reported the New York Times.
A video circulating online appeared to show the pilot's parachute open just as the fighter jet burst into flames.
The crash was the second near Trona in recent years. In 2022, a Navy pilot was killed after his F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed in a remote, unpopulated area. The pilot, Lt Richard Bullock, was flying a training mission.
