Fighter jet pilot killed in crash
The pilot of an F-16C fighter jet that crashed in a rugged area of western Arizona was killed when his plane went down, Air Force officials confirmed.
The student pilot, whose identity was not released, was practicing air-to-air combat with another F-16 from Luke Air Force Base about noon Friday when his plane crashed, base spokeswoman Mary Jo May said.
Aircraft from the Air Force, Marines, Civil Air Patrol and Arizona Department of Public Safety spent hours trying to find the wreckage, which was spotted in a remote area about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix. Rescuers could reach the site only by helicopter and found the pilot’s parachute about 150 feet from an impact crater.
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