An F-16 ‘Fighting Falcon’ fighter plane crashed on Tuesday in a national park in New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States, the US Air Force announced, reports AFP.
The pilot was able to eject 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 in order not to be exposed to the chemical products on board the plane,” the airbase said.
Intervention teams were sent to the scene and an investigation was opened. The pilot landed safely and was evacuated to receive medical attention.
Famous for its immense white sand dunes composed 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 tests numerous weapons and missiles there.
In this remote place of the United States, the famous Trinity test took place in 1945, the first explosion of an atomic bomb. The episode recently appeared in the Oscar-winning film ‘Oppenheimer’.
The F-16 ‘Fighting Falcon’ is a single-engine supersonic aircraft model originally developed for the US military in the 1970s. Hundreds are still in service in the US and other countries.
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