An F-16C fighter jet belonging to the US Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team crashed on Wednesday morning during a training sortie over the Mojave Desert in Southern California, with the pilot ejecting moments before impact. The incident, which produced a dramatic plume of smoke and a sonic boom heard for miles, has prompted a military inquiry into what went wrong.

What happened during the Thunderbird F-16C fighter jet crash?

The crash occurred at approximately 10:45 am over controlled military airspace near Trona, California — a remote desert region roughly 200 miles west of the Thunderbirds’ home base at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

A video circulating on social media appeared to capture the final moments, showing the aircraft engulfed in flames just as the pilot’s parachute d

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