An F-16 fighter jet crashed on Tuesday near a US and NATO airbase in Germany, forcing the pilot to eject to safety.
The $60-80 million military hardware was on approach to Spangdahlem Air Base in the Eifel region of the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate when it crashed, a spokesperson for the base told The Post.
The pilot was able to eject but was still injured in the crash and is receiving treatment, the spokesperson added.
Four jets were taking part in a training exercise when one of the two planes returning to Spangdahlem crashed at around 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, a German Air Traffic Control spokesperson told SWR.
The other three aircraft were diverted to a nearby airfield at Ramstein.
Local mayor Birthe Thomsen reported seeing the jet “descend quickly, followed by a large column of black smoke,” in an interview with the outlet.
Multiple firefighters and police officers were scrambled to the military airbase, which is often used as the starting point of US and NATO air missions in the Middle East.
Other witnesses heard “a great deal of siren wailing,” they told SWR.
Further details about the pilot’s condition and the circumstances behind the crash are yet to be released.
“The Eifel district is currently unable to provide any information regarding the circumstances of the accident or further details of the incident,” a district authority spokesperson told NTV.
Water cannons and a “charred pile of scrap metal” were visible in the area, an eyewitness told Lokalo.
Spangdahlem, a remote air base some 15 miles from the German border with Luxembourg, is home to the 52nd Fighter Wing of the US Air Force.
The base employs around 5,000 military and civilian personnel, along with their families, and between 700 and 800 Germans.
Roughly 20 F-16s are based at the site.