A US F-16C crashed during a training mission over California on Wednesday morning, the Air Force reported.
The plane came down in an unpopulated desert area around 130 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles in a zone used for live weapons testing, Stars and Stripes military news outlet said on Wednesday.
A video circulating on social media purports to show a fireball rising from the crash site, with the pilot parachuting down some distance away.
🇺🇸⚡️- A U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 from the air show demonstration team has crashed in California during training. The pilot was able to safely eject. pic.twitter.com/0IkWFABild
— Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts (@officialrnintel) December 4, 2025
According to the US Air Force, the plane belonged to its premier air demonstration squadron.
“On Dec. 3, 2025, at approximately 10:45 am, a pilot from the US Air Force Air Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds, safely ejected from an F-16C Fighting Falcon during a training mission over controlled airspace in California,” a USAF spokesperson said in a statement.
The pilot was in stable condition and received follow-up care, they added.
Earlier this year, a Polish Air Force F-16 pilot belonging to the nation’s Tiger Demo aerobatic team died in a crash during the Radom Air Show after attempting a high-speed barrel roll maneuver.