Air Force pilot safely ejects before F-16 fighter jet crashes in California desert

TRONA Calif AP A fighter jet with the Air Force s elite Thunderbirds demonstration squadron crashed in the Southern California desert on Wednesday but the pilot managed to eject safely the military reported The pilot was being treated for non life-threatening injuries at a hospital according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department The F- C Fighting Falcon crashed around a m during a training mission over controlled airspace in California according to a announcement from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada The fire department disclosed it had responded to an aircraft exigency near Trona an unincorporated region in the Mojave Desert about miles kilometers north of Los Angeles In a Navy F A- E Super Hornet crashed near Trona killing the pilot Wednesday s crash is under analysis and further information will be distributed from the th Wing Populace Affairs Office the Air Force announcement mentioned Like the Navy s Blue Angels the Air Force Thunderbirds perform their famous tight formations at air shows and train to fly within inches of each other The brief message from the Air Force did not give details on the circumstances of the crash The Blue Angels and Thunderbirds have had dozens of crashes in their long histories Formed in the Thunderbirds practice seasonally out of Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas Aircraft based there include F- Falcon and F- Raptor fighter jets as well as A- Warthog ground-attack jets