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2 Dead After F-16, Cessna Collide in Midair

Fighter pilot ejects safely
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2015 11:56 AM CDT
Updated Jul 7, 2015 4:04 PM CDT
F-16, Cessna Collide Mid-air in SC
This undated photo shows an F-16 Fighting Falcon. An F-16 collided with a civilian Cessna over South Carolina this morning.   (AP Photo/US Air Force, Staff Sgt. Aaron D. Allmon II)

An F-16 fighter jet and a small plane collided in midair this morning in South Carolina, with two people aboard the Cessna 150 killed, reports AP. The F-16 pilot ejected safely and is reportedly uninjured. The crash rained debris over a wide area in Berkeley County, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. One witness describes watching the planes collide and erupt into a "ball of fire in the air," reports WCBD. The NTSB is investigating, and there's no word yet on what caused the crash or where the planes were going. The F-16 was likely on a training mission from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. A two-seat Cessna 150 typically weighs 1,500 pounds, while an F-16 is about 10 tons. (More F-16 stories.)

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