An F‑16C Fighting Falcon, believed to belong to the U.S. Air Force, went down near Trona Airport on a dry lake bed in San Bernardino County, just south of Death Valley, creating a massive black plume of smoke that was visible for miles.
A video shared by DisasterAlert shows the pilot pulling the ejection seat and then gliding down slowly under a parachute, a narrow escape that left him critically injured but alive.
The aircraft was reportedly a member of the Flight Demonstration Squadron known as the Thunderbirds, the U.S. military’s official air‑show team, though officials have so far said they still don’t know what caused the crash.
At 10:28 a.m., a witness called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office and told them that at least one pilot had ejected and was being transported to a nearby hospital.
According to a statement from the Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbird pilot was transported to a hospital in stable condition and is now receiving ongoing care. The estimated cost of an F‑16C Fighting Falcon is about $20 million.
The investigation is being led by police from the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in Ridgecrest.
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