Two F-16 fighter jets collided Monday over rural Indiana, authorities said. Witnesses said one pilot was killed, while the other parachuted to safety.
The jets collided over Oaktown, about 40 miles south of Terre Haute, State Police Sgt. Greg Winkler said.
Resident Lisa Hall said she heard an explosion and saw a pilot’s body in a field nearby. She and other witnesses said another pilot dropped to the ground with a parachute.
“He’s OK. He’s bleeding from facial wounds,” said Don Kirkham, a former Knox County sheriff who was mowing his lawn when he heard a boom and drove to the scene. “All he was concerned about was his buddy. He said ‘I’m not worried about anything but my buddy,’ so we cornered him and got him into an ambulance.”
One of the planes went down in Illinois, Illinois State Police Sgt. John Waggle said.
Jonathan Swain, Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan’s press secretary, said that the jets were F-16s but that he had no other details.