December 4, 2025

TRONA, Calif. -- A fighter jet with the Air Force's elite Thunderbirds

demonstration squadron crashed in the Southern California desert on

Wednesday, but the pilot managed to eject safely, the military said.

The pilot was being treated for non life-threatening injuries at a hospital,

according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

The F-16C Fighting Falcon crashed around 10:45 a.m. during a training

mission “over controlled airspace in California,” according to a statement

from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

The fire department said it had responded to an “aircraft emergency” near

Trona, an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert about 180

miles (290 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.