Military F-16 fighter jet crashes and bursts into flames in Michigan during training exercise

A US military F-16 fighter jet crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Thursday afternoon during a training exercise, with the pilot safely ejecting, the Associated Press reported.

“We have a possible mayday by wingman. I believe (they) may have taken a bird,” a military pilot alerted air traffic controllers, according to audio captured by LiveATC.net .

Video showed a fireball in a field next to homes and a large smoke plume in the community south of Traverse City.

“It appears that they may have lost an engine and ejected…. but we do see a lot of black smoke, which we believe is the ejected F-16,” an air traffic controller relayed to other pilots.

Sgt. Derek Gutierrez, a public affairs specialist with the 149th Fighter Wing, told the AP the pilot ejected and was receiving medical treatment at a local hospital.

The plane was participating in training exercises at a National Guard Base in Alpena, Michigan.

Wendy Sobeck told the AP she and her husband heard a “very loud crash” down the road, minutes from their home.

“We thought there was a car accident outside our house. We saw big billowing black smoke. We couldn’t tell what it was, so my husband got into his pickup truck and saw what happened,” Sobeck said. “You could see the plane debris in the field. Explosions kept happening.”

据美联社报道，周四下午，一架美国军用F-16战斗机在密歇根州大特拉弗斯县进行训练时坠毁，飞行员安全弹射逃生。

据 LiveATC.net 网站截获的音频显示，一名军用飞行员向空中交通管制员发出警报：“我们可能收到了僚机的遇险求救信号。我认为（他们）可能击落了一架飞机。”

视频显示，特拉弗斯城南部社区的房屋旁田野里出现火球，并冒出大量浓烟。

“看起来他们可能失去了一个引擎并弹射逃生……但我们确实看到了很多黑烟，我们认为那是弹射出来的 F-16，”一名空中交通管制员向其他飞行员转达了这一信息。

第 149 战斗机联队公共事务专家德里克·古铁雷斯中士告诉美联社，飞行员弹射逃生，正在当地医院接受治疗。

这架飞机当时正在密歇根州阿尔佩纳的一个国民警卫队基地参加训练演习。

温迪·索贝克告诉美联社，她和丈夫听到离家几分钟路程的路上传来一声“非常响亮的撞击声”。

“我们当时以为房子外面发生了车祸。我们看到滚滚黑烟。我们看不清发生了什么，所以我丈夫开着他的皮卡车去看发生了什么事，”索贝克说。“可以看到田野里有飞机残骸。爆炸声不断响起。”