Belgian fighter jet crashes, pilot hits power line

PARIS (AP):

A Belgian F-16 fighter jet crashed yesterday in western France, damaging a house, setting a field ablaze, and leaving a pilot suspended for two hours from a high-voltage electricity line after his parachute got caught, according to French authorities.

Emergency workers extracted the pilot safely after cutting off power in the area, and he was taken to a nearby hospital for medical checks, a spokesman for the regional administration told The Associated Press.

No injuries have been reported. Surrounding homes were evacuated as the pilot was being taken down and firefighters battled the blaze from the crash.

One of the plane’s wings sliced the roof and facade of a house in the town of Pluvigner in Britanny, before plunging into a neighbouring field, said Ludovic Kauffer, who lives in the house.

Kauffer was at work at the time of the morning accident, but his parents were home and described to him the “booms” of the crash.

“My mother is in shock, my father is, too,” he told The AP. “The most important thing is that everyone is OK.”

The plane was travelling from Belgium to a naval air base in France when it came down between the towns of Pluvigner and Landaul, according to a statement from the regional prefecture, or administration.

Two pilots were aboard, and both ejected before the crash. One was safely rescued, but the other got stuck on the power line.