Fifth U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashes since May

An F-16C fighter jet assigned to the 49th Wing crashed during landing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, the Air Force said in a statement.

“A U.S. Air Force F-16C Viper assigned to the 49th Wing crashed during landing at Holloman AFB at approximately 1800 MDT today,” it said in a statement. “The sole pilot on board successfully ejected, and is currently being treated for minor injuries.”

Emergency response teams are on scene at this time. An investigation conducted by a board of qualified officers is underway to determine the cause of the incident. Additional details will be released as they become available.

The incident is the fifth fighter jet crash since May and the second F-16 crash in the past two weeks. Two of the previous crashes saw the losses of Air Force pilots.

An F-16CM Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft crashed at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. during a routine training mission on June 30. Pilot, 1st Lt. David Schmitz, was killed.

In mid-June, an F-15C Eagle fighter jet crashed under unknown circumstances into the North Sea. Pilot 1st Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen was killed.

On 15 May, a U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor fighter jet, assigned to the 43rd Fighter Squadron, crashed shortly after 9 a.m. on the Eglin Air Force Base reservation. A few days later, an F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, another fifth-generation aircraft crashed at the same base. Both crashes, which occurred during training flights, were non-fatal, as the pilots were able to eject.