“We heard the plane crash”, said Leo Ramsey, who has worked at the plantation for about 30 years.
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Officials said debris has been found across 7.3 miles of woods and swampland.
Ramsey and two other workers found burning metal, splintered trees and a flaming crater where the jet had crash-landed, he said. They found burning metal, splintered trees and a crater where the empty jet crashed, he said.
The NTSB is leading an investigation into the tragedy.
“Our thoughts are with the friends and family of anyone aboard the civilian aircraft”, said a statement from the NTSB.
A source told WBTW that an F-16 and a small plane were involved in the crash and Berkeley County Fire has confirmed the crash involved an F-16 and a Cessna. Salisbury also said debris was scattered over a large area, mostly in a marsh, including a rice field.
“I just walked outside and saw it laying there”, Rollings said of the plane debris. There were no reported injuries on the ground, even though of one of the jet’s engines landed on the side of a small mobile home.
“Our pilots are well trained to fly the approaches in and out of there and all the facts at this point indicate he was taking to air traffic control when the accident happened”, Jost said.
Rescue crews have located the Air Force pilot, who is on the way to a hospital.
F-16s have been flown by the Air Force since the 1970’s, although very few regiments still use them. F-16s from the Shaw Air Force Base conduct regular training missions, flying over the Atlantic and eastern South Carolina near Charleston.
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The air force says its pilot successfully ejected and is now receiving medical care, and it not know how many passengers were onboard the Cessna or whether any survived the crash.
