Both pilots of the single-seat aircrafts ejected safely and are unharmed, officials say.
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The collision occurred over a military operating area in Georgia’s Jefferson County and there have been no reports of injuries on the ground.
While he didn’t identify the pilots, Gentile says they are both highly experienced. Gen. Roy McCarty, assistant adjutant general for SC.
Two South Carolina Air National Guard fighter pilots ejected safely from their jets after they collided over eastern Georgia while performing routine night operations, the National Guard said on Wednesday.
Gentile says the training is specialized work that requires the use of night goggles, and is something they do every day. Jefferson County Fire Chief Jim Anderson confirmed there were no injuries on the ground as a result of the crash, and said the area where the planes came down is a very rural section of the county. “I have the utmost confidence in our aviators and in our pilots”, Gentile said. The region is used by the South Carolina Air National Guard for such training.
Livingston said it is the first similar crash of any South Carolina Guard unit in 30 years.
“The U.S. Air Force will be conducting an investigation”.
The collision comes almost a week after a U.S. Air Force F-16 assigned to the Thunderbirds flight demonstration team crashed following a flyover at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Two US airmen have ejected safely after an apparent midair collision over the US state of Georgia, military officials said.
Only last week, the US Navy lost one of its Blue Angels pilots after his F/A-18 jet crashed shortly after takeoff in Smyrna, about 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Nashville, while he was practicing for an air show.
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