F-16 crash: Pilot ejects from fighter jet moments before it crashes into warehouse in California

Bonnie Christian17 May 2019

A pilot ejected moments before an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a warehouse in California, military officials said.

A dozen people were sent to hospital after they were exposed to debris during the incident.

The pilot parachuted to safety before the crash just outside the March Air Reserve Base, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.

The cause of the crash, which happened as the pilot was landing, was under investigation.

Footage showed a large hole in the roof and sprinklers on the inside the building.

The parachute left by the pilot who ejected before his F-16 fighter jet crashed into a warehouse.
AP

Cellphone photos and video from inside showed what appeared to be the tail of the plane buried in twisted metal and piles of cardboard boxes.

Interstate 215, which runs between the base and the warehouse, was closed in both directions, backing up rush-hour traffic for miles.

Daniel Gallegos, a warehouse worker, said he is used to hearing the sound of planes coming and going, but the noise just before the crash was deafening.

"Next thing I know I just hear this explosion and turn around to the back of the building, and I just seen a burst of flames and just the ceiling started falling through every part of the building," he told KABC-TV . "I turned around, and my co-worker just told me to get out, so I just made a run for it."

Mr Gallegos said he believed one of his co-workers was struck by something - possibly a falling fire sprinkler - and wasn't seriously hurt.

A dozen people were hosed down and taken to hospitals, and there were no major injuries, state fire captain Fernando Herrera said.

The crash also caused a small fire doused by the warehouse sprinkler system, Herrera said.

March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said the crash happened as the pilot was landing following a routine training mission.

"The pilot was having hydraulic problems," Holliday said. "He started losing control of the aircraft."

The jet's cockpit canopy was on a runway, and a parachute had settled in a nearby field.

Damage to the warehouse was relatively minor, and there was no major fire, which Holliday called "a miracle."

The pilot, the only person on board, was taken to a hospital for examination, officials said.

The F-16 was carrying standard armaments and will be recovered once authorities make sure the weapons don't pose a risk.

The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard.

The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls.

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