Air Force F-16 Crashes After Pentagon Orders More Flyovers

MANDEL NGAN / via REUTERS A U.S.

F-16 fighter jet has crashed during a training drill in Michigan, after the Pentagon said it wanted to see more military flyovers.

The F-16 belonged to the Texas Military Department and was embarking on a routine training mission from a National Guard base in Alpena, Michigan, on Thursday when it crashed in Grand Traverse County, sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

The pilot ejected safely but was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Nearby residents were evacuated after police said hazardous chemicals spilled from the wreckage.

The F-16 unit is in Michigan to take part in training at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, and was due to perform a flyover at a high-school football game on Friday night, the Alpena News reported.

The pilot was conscious and speaking to law enforcement at the hospital, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael D.

Shea said, as reported by the Associated Press.

The military said it was still investigating the cause of the crash, but one pilot told air traffic controllers that he believes his wingman hit a bird before the crash.

Audio captured by www.liveatc.net sees a pilot with the callsign Buck 11 say, “We have a possible mayday by wingman.

I believe (they) may have taken a bird.” “Alert emergency services!… He’s gonna have to get out, and it’s gonna be in the town that I’m overhead now,” Buck 11 says, as reported by the New York Post .

After the accident, homes and businesses within a one-mile radius were evacuated due to a “hazardous chemical spill related to the plane crash,” Michigan State Police said in a social media post .

Most residents were allowed to return home by 10 p.m.

Thursday.