F-16 pilots OK after midair collision over Kansas

One jet crashes in pasture; other makes it back to Oklahoma base

Two Oklahoma Air National Guard pilots escaped serious injury Monday after their F-16 jets collided midair near Moline, Kan., during an afternoon training flight.

Kansas Highway Patrol officials reported a large swath of wreckage slightly north of the Elk County town, nearly 75 miles southeast of Wichita and 100 miles north of Tulsa, where the fighters are based.

Local residents reported that a pilot from one of the Falcon fighters ejected safely and landed in a pasture. His jet crashed and burned, a particularly rare sight for the town of fewer than 500 people.

“You could look right down main street ... and see the smoke,” Moline City Clerk Lisa Townsley told The Wichita Eagle.

Some debris from the collision fell in the town, but no injuries were reported, Townsley said.

Military spokesman Col. Max Moss didn't identify either pilot involved in the incident but said the airman who ejected was taken to McConnell Air Force Base hospital in Wichita for evaluation.

Osage SkyNews 6 HD pilot Will Kavanagh reported the two jets were participating in a training mission that involved four aircraft from the 138th Fighter Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, which is based at Tulsa International Airport.

Two jets returned safely, while a third had to be towed to the hangar upon landing in Tulsa.

Known for its manueverability, the F-16 is a multiple-role jet that remains a staple of the active-duty U.S. Air Force as well as the reserves and air guard. The U.S. Navy still utilizes versions as well.

First introduced into American service in 1978, F-16 fighters are no longer purchased by the U.S., though later, improved variants remain popular with international customers of Lockheed Martin.