Holloman Air Force Base pilot ejects from F-16 during training mission, plane crashes

Update: The 49th Wing out of Holloman Air Force Base has confirmed there were no injuries involved when an F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed at about 8:45 a.m. today, Nov. 25, northwest of Salinas Peak near Truth or Consequences, N.M.

The crash site is in a remote location in rugged terrain and travel to the crash site is discouraged until further notice.

The pilot successfully ejected and was transported to a local medical facility. He is assigned to the 314th Fighter Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.

No live munitions were on board the aircraft.

The $25 million aircraft was a single-seat model and part of a normal training mission from Holloman Air Force Base, according to the 49th Wing.

The aircraft was operating in military airspace over the White Sands Missile Range.

All flying operations for the day have ceased and will resume following the Thanksgiving holiday.

An Air Force safety investigation board will be formed to determine the exact cause of the crash. The team will be selected based on knowledge of various specialties needed for an F-16 crash.

The 54th Fighter Group, a tenant unit of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., operates two F-16 training squadrons at Holloman.

Additional details will be provided as soon as they become available.

Original Story: A pilot from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. successfully ejected from an F-16 Fighting Falcon Northwest of Salinas Park while on a training mission, according to a post on the base’s website.

The pilot ejection and subsequent plane crash happened at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Holloman officials say emergency response teams are on the scene investigating the accident.

It is not known why the pilot had to eject.

Each F-16 Fighting Falcon is worth $25 million.

The Fighting Falcon has been in production since the early 1970s with more than 4,000 of the jet being produced since then.

By mid-2015, it was expected that Holloman would be responsible for as much as 45 percent of the F-16 training for the entire Department of Defense.

On Nov. 13, 2014, students with the 311 th Fighter Squadron, out of the 54 th Fighter Group, began training with the F-16 Fighting Falcon at Holloman Air Force Base.

Training typically lasts six to eight months from a student’s first day of the academic phase to graduation day, according to the 311th Fighter Squadron commander.

According to a Nov. 2014 article from the 49th Wing Public Affairs, on average, each student will experience 75 to 80 flying hours in the fighter jet by the end of the course.

More details will be added to this article as they become available.