2 killed when F-16, Cessna collide in midair over S.C.

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Authorities said, A U.S. F-16 fighter jet and a small plane collided in midair over South Carolina on Tuesday, killing two aboard the private plane while the military pilot ejected safely. USA TODAY

Two people in a small Cessna were killed after an F-16 fighter jet collided with the civilian plane in a "very rare" crash in South Carolina on Tuesday morning.

The Cessna was destroyed and both people aboard were killed in the crash, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson told USA TODAY.

The F-16 pilot, Air Force Maj. Aaron Johnson, safely ejected himself from the plane and was transported to Joint Base Charleston for a health assessment. Johnson's F-16 "Fighting Falcon" was from the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter.

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Officials confirmed that two people were killed after a F-16 and a Cessna collided in mid-air over South Carolina late Tuesday morning. VPC

​"These are very rare," said Lt. Jenny Hyden, a spokeswoman for Shaw. "Military aircraft and civilian aircraft are not usually flying in the same airspace. When military aircrafts are doing any combat maneuvers, they are in a different airspace that civilian aircrafts are not allowed in."

Col. Stephen Jost, the commander of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that Johnson was participating in a standard instrument training. Jost said Johnson was flying toward Charleston and is a "highly experienced" pilot.

"There's nothing to say that he won't be flying next week," he said.

A LinkedIn page for Johnson shows he's been at Shaw since September 2014 and has been flying F-16s since at least December 2005. The page says he has also been an instructor pilot for different planes.

Jost said there are hundreds of factors that could have caused the accident, and he doesn't believe the jet was carrying any hazardous material. The Air Force, NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.

Berkeley County spokesman Michael Mule said the crash occurred about 25 miles north of Charleston at 11:01 a.m. near the Lewisfield Plantation in Moncks Corner. He said there were no reports of property damage from the crash debris.

Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury said at a news conference that the Cessna had just left Berkeley County Airport before the crash and was likely headed to Myrtle Beach. Salisbury said the crash victims were local residents, but he did not release their names. He said a witness reported that the fighter jet hit the Cessna broadside and said debris was scattered over a large marshy area, including a rice field.

Shaw is home to the Air Force's largest combat F-16 wing, according to the base's website, which says its "mission is to provide combat-ready airpower and combat-ready airmen to meet any challenge, anytime, anywhere."