Arizona Fighter Jet Seemed to "Fall Out of the Sky" Before Exploding
A US Military F-16 fighter jet seemed to “fall out of the sky” Wednesday night near the Mexican border, exploding and sparking a large fire.
The pilot was on an overnight training mission when the crash occurred near Douglas Municipal Airport
A 162nd Wing Arizona Air National Guard spokesperson tells Reuters it’s unclear what caused the crash or what happened to the pilot, but a witness tells NBC the jet exploded in “a hell of a flash” on impact.
Another witness reported seeing “fireball explosions that lit up the night sky like daylight.”
Still, a Cochise County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson tells Tuscon.com there’s a chance the pilot survived, saying, “We have initial reports the pilot may have ejected, but that has not been confirmed.”
The large fire has reportedly prevented authorities from examining the crash site so far, and responding firefighters “had to pull back due to the presence of gas lines in the area,” Tuscon News Now reports.
Fire measures half a mile long, according to Sheriff's Office. This is their pic, b/c we can't get that close pic.twitter.com/6VHNRxkagV
June 25, 2015
