US Fighter Jet Crash: Air Force Thunderbirds F-16C Crashes Near Trona Airport in San Bernardino County (Watch Video)

A US fighter jet has crashed near Trona Airport in San Bernardino County desert area, California, on Wednesday morning, December 3. However, the pilot safely ejected before the aircraft burst into flames. A US Air Force spokesman, Sgt. Jovante Johnson told the NYT that the pilot is in stable condition and receiving medical treatment for his injuries.

After receiving the information about the crash, the rescue team, along with firefighters, rushed to the scene. A video of the crash has emerged on social media in which a pilot can be seen parachuting before the jet crashed in an open desert, causing fire and smoke to blow out of it and a boom that could be heard in the surrounding area.

US Fighter Jet Crash Video

🚨#BREAKING: Watch as a U.S. Air Force F-16C jet Thunderbird Crashes in Fiery Wreckage ⁰⁰📌#Trona | #California⁰⁰Watch as a U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon assigned to the elite Thunderbirds demonstration team went down near Trona Airport in San Bernardino County,… pic.twitter.com/Ac6rwMZwI4

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 3, 2025

The crash occurred at around 10.45 am on Wednesday during a training mission over controlled airspace, a military personnel told The New York Times. The F-16C Fighting Falcon crashed into a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert near Trona, California.

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George Bass, the facility’s manager, said that the jet crashed two miles from Trona Airport, but was not using the runway of the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration referred questions about the incident to the military. The Thunderbirds are based at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas, which is about 200 miles east of the crash site.