An American F-16 fighter jet has crashed in a US national park. The pilot was able to eject before impact with the ground

An American F-16 fighter jet crashed on Tuesday in a national park in New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States, the US Air Force announced, reports Le Figaro, according to News.ro.

By the Observator editorial team on 01.05.2024, 08:35

The pilot aboard the F-16 Fighting Falcon ejected before the plane crashed in White Sands National Park, Holloman Air Force Base said on its Facebook page.

“All non-emergency personnel must avoid the area to avoid possible exposure to the chemicals on board the plane,” the base stated.

The pilot managed to catapult himself

Emergency intervention teams were sent to the scene and an investigation into the accident was started. The pilot, uninjured, was evacuated for medical treatment.

Famous for its huge white sand dunes made of gypsum crystals, White Sands National Park attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. It is surrounded by a huge desert area administered by the US military, which uses it to test numerous weapons and missiles.

In this remote corner of the United States, the famous Trinity test took place in 1945 to expose the first atomic bomb, an episode recently narrated on the screen in the Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer”.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a supersonic single-engine aircraft originally developed for the US military in the 1970s. Hundreds of such aircraft are still in service in the United States and around the world.