An F-16 military plane collided midair with a small plane near Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday morning, leaving two people dead, federal officials confirmed.
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An Air Force spokeswoman says the pilot of a crashed F-16 fighter jet ejected to safety.
He has now been taken to the Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina for observation. The search operatives are now focusing in recovering the remains, Berkeley County Squad Chief Bill Salisbury said.
The crash happened near Old Highway 52 in Moncks Corner at approximately 11:02 a.m. and witnesses reported the F-16 hit the Cessna “broadside”, Salisbury said.
Berkeley County spokesman Michael Mule said at least 150 people from local, state and federal agencies are searching an area of about 7.3 miles for aircraft parts and for the two victims. It issued an advisory saying that anyone who finds debris from the crash should call 911 immediately to report it so the debris can be collected.
The NTSB is investigating, officials said.
Debris from the mid-air collision raining down across a wide stretch of marshes and fields.
The Air Force Pilot, identified as Maj. Aaron Johnson of the 20th Fighter Wing’s 55th Fighter Squadron.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington said both people in the two-seat, single-engine Cessna 150 were killed.
Breaking news from the crash site by Charleston’s Post and Courier and WCSC News Channel 5.
“I heard a noise, like a jet was flying low”, Hill said. “Pieces started falling out of the sky”, one witness told Associated Press.
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F-16s have been flown by the Air Force since the 1970’s, although very few regiments still use them. By comparison, an F-16 is about 50 feet long and weighs nearly 10 tons, not counting fuel or weapons.
