The pilot, part of the Air Force’s Thunderbirds aerobatic squadron, successfully ejected.
A US F-16C aircraft crashed during a training exercise in California on Wednesday morning, according to an Air Force report.
The aircraft went down in an uninhabited desert region approximately 130 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, within an area designated for live weapons testing, as reported by the military news outlet Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
A video circulating on social media reportedly depicts a fireball ascending from the crash site, with the pilot seen parachuting a short distance away.
The US Air Force confirmed the aircraft was part of its premier air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds.
A USAF spokesperson stated: “On Dec. 3, 2025, at approximately 10:45 am, a pilot from the US Air Force Air Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds, safely ejected from an F-16C Fighting Falcon during a training mission over controlled airspace in California.”
The pilot was reported to be in stable condition and received subsequent medical attention, the spokesperson added.
🇺🇸⚡️- A U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 from the air show demonstration team has crashed in California during training. The pilot was able to safely eject.
— Rerum Novarum // Intel, Breaking News, and Alerts (@officialrnintel)
Earlier this year, a pilot from the Polish Air Force’s Tiger Demo aerobatic team was killed when their F-16 crashed during the Radom Air Show, following an attempted high-speed barrel roll maneuver.