The pilot of a U.S. F-16 fighter jet has been killed after a crash in Michigan, USA Today reported Friday.
The National Guard is withholding the pilot's identity until his family is told. Officials haven't released the cause of the accident and have started an investigation.
The aircraft crashed around 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Hiawatha National Forest, around 300 miles northeast of Truax Field Air National Guard Base in Madison, officials said in a Facebook post.
The U.S. military has reported several recent crashes among its F-16s. In mid-July, an F-16C Viper crashed while landing at Holloman Air Force base in New Mexico. In June, an F-16CM Fighting Falcon crashed in a late-night flight at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
Officials with the 115th fighter wing said it was conducting night exercises between Monday and Thursday. Air Force units, the Coast Guard and local emergency rescue teams commenced search-and-rescue efforts following the crash.
The $15 million combat plane can fly more than 2,000 miles at speeds of up to 1,500 miles an hour and altitude of 50,000 feet. The crash is the third of an F-16 from the 115th in 25 years.
In April, the Air Force announced that Truax would get 18 new F-35s to replace its aging F-16s.
