F-16 fighter jet crashes in residential area in northern Michigan

A U.S. F-16 fighter jet pilot safely ejected before the aircraft crashed in northern Michigan on Thursday afternoon, officials said. The incident occurred in Grand Traverse County when the jet “experienced an incident” during a routine training mission, a spokesperson for the Texas Military Department said. Michael Kroll, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, confirmed the jet was an F-16 from the Texas Air National Guard. The pilot is stable and was transferred to a local hospital, Michigan State Police said. The training mission originated out of the Air National Guard’s Combat Readiness Training Center in Alpena, Michigan, the military department said. There have been no reports of civilian injuries in the incident, which occurred in a residential area, Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. Blonshine said she did not witness the crash but heard it from her office.