US F-16 crashes near Spangdahlem air base, pilot ejects safely
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed near Spangdahlem Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate on Tuesday at about 2.30 pm local time. The US military confirmed the jet was assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing and that the pilot ejected safely.
Authorities in the Eifel district of Bitburg-Pruem said fire and emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene and that one person was injured. The district added that it could give no further details at this stage. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Spangdahlem is a NATO operations centre built in the early 1950s and home to a squadron of around 20 F-16 fighter jets. It lies north of Trier, close to the border with Luxembourg, and ranks alongside Ramstein as one of the most important US airfields in Germany. About 5,000 US military and civilian personnel are stationed there, along with roughly 700 to 800 German employees.
File photo: a US Air Force F-16 inside a hardened shelter at Spangdahlem Air Base, 2019. US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kyle Cope, public domain. Not an image of the crashed aircraft.