A formation of F-16 Fighting Falcons sits along the flightline during Operation Northern Cactus at Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Mich., on Sept. 13, 2026. An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 149th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard crashed on Sept. 17, 2026, in Grand Traverse County, Mich., the unit confirmed. (Jonathan Rasco/U.S. Air Force)
An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard crashed Thursday in Grand Traverse County, Mich., the unit confirmed.
The fighter jet was “on a routine training mission from the Air National Guard’s Combat Readiness Training Center, in Alpena, when it experienced an incident earlier this afternoon,” the Texas Air National Guard said in a statement.
The crash is under investigation.
Another pilot who was flying along with the F-16 that crashed told air traffic controllers the aircraft may have hit a bird, according to a radio transmission to the airport’s tower obtained by CBS Detroit. The TV station posted the audio on its Facebook page Thursday, The Detroit News reported.
“We may have a possible Mayday,” the pilot said. “My wingman, I believe, may have taken a bird. We are 634.”
The pilot ejected safely, the wing said in a statement from its headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.
The pilot was awake and alert after parachuting to the ground, Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine told CBS Detroit. The Texas unit is in Michigan to take part in annual training at Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.
The F-16s from Texas were scheduled to take part in a flyover of a football game Friday night as part of POW-MIA Recognition Day.
Photos taken at the crash site showed a burning wreck in a tall grass field with a plume of dense black smoke.
Authorities ordered residents and onlookers to “shelter in place” within a mile of the crash site.
The Air Force has said ejection from an F-16 requires an environmental response team to the crash site to deal with any toxic materials, including highly flammable hydrazine, which is used in the F-16 Emergency Power Unit (EPU). In the event of an engine flameout, the EPU is activated to push the hydrazine through the system to maintain power and control. The F-16’s ejection seat uses a solid propellant rocket to propel the pilot out of the cockpit. Hydrazine emits fumes that are highly toxic and require decontamination.
The 149th Fighter Wing is participating in Operation Northern Cactus, a training mission that allows its pilots to fly in “austere environments,” according to an Air Force statement on the event.
