The United States Air Force said a U.S. F-16 jet crashed in a forested area of country's southern Bavaria region early Tuesday, but the pilot safely ejected. "A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, crashed Aug. 11, 2015, at approximately 9:38 a.m. near Engelmannreuth in the county of Bayreuth, Germany," Spangdahlem Air Base of U.S. Air Force said in a statement.
The German police said that the pilot managed to eject with his parachute and suffered only minor injuries, according to AFP. "A passerby found the slightly injured pilot in a wooded area near the crash site and delivered him into the hands of rescue services," the police said.
The accident happened during a training flight at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria in Grafenwoehr and the cause of accident is under investigation, the U.S. Air Force further said in statement.
MT @Spangdahlem_AB: An F-16 aircraft crashed near Engelmannreuth, Germany. Click here for more info: https://t.co/EvWkmfULac. #AirForce
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) August 11, 2015
The fighter jet was carrying six 25-pound training munitions [but] no live munitions, officials said, according to NBCNews.
"Both external fuel tanks were found yesterday. 2 of 6 training GBU-33s were found yesterday," Germany's Seventh Army Joint Multinational Training Command Tweeted.
F-16 crash status: both external fuel tanks were found yesterday. 2 of 6 training GBU-33s were found yesterday. Pilot is safe. — 7thArmyJMTC (@7thArmyJMTC) August 12, 2015
The F-16 crash in southern Germany comes little more than a month after another F-16 collided with a civilian aircraft early July in South Carolina, according to Military Times. The collision killed the pilot and a passenger aboard a civilian Cessna aircraft.
