A U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot was forced to eject from an F-16 during a training sortie over Southern California on Wednesday, drifting down under a parachute while the jet plowed into a dry lake bed near the town of Trona. The pilot was taken to a hospital in Ridgecrest with injuries described as non-life-threatening and is listed in stable condition. Military and local emergency crews locked down the remote Mojave crash site as investigators moved in to figure out what went wrong.
Thunderbirds' statement and timeline
The Thunderbirds said in a social media post that the ejection happened at about 10:45 a.m. and that "the pilot is in stable condition and receiving follow-on care," according to the Associated Press. The flight was conducted over controlled airspace, the team noted, as part of a routine training mission.
Local response at the crash site
The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District reported that crews from Station 57 raced out to an "aircraft emergency" call and joined Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake personnel to knock down a post-impact fire on the dry lake bed south of Trona, as reported by News 3 Las Vegas. Officials said there were no injuries on the ground and urged the public to stay away from the scene while responders and military teams do their work.
Range hazards and cleanup
Edwards Air Force Base dispatched an environmental response team to handle hazardous materials at the crash site, including hydrazine used in the F-16's emergency power unit, the military outlet Stars and Stripes reported. While firefighters had already extinguished the flames from the crash, specialists remained on scene to contain any contaminants and decontaminate equipment before it leaves the area.
Why Trona is used for training and recent history
The jet went down inside a vast, largely unpopulated training area near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake that the services use for live-fire and high-speed flight maneuvers. The Thunderbirds, assigned to the 57th Wing and based at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, run their winter workups out of that base ahead of air show season, according to Air Force Times. The same region has seen deadly mishaps before, including a 2022 crash of a Navy F/A-18E that killed its pilot, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said the incident remains under investigation and that the 57th Wing Public Affairs Office will release further information when it becomes available, per the Review-Journal. This story will be updated as new official details are released.
