US Air Force jet crashes near houses in Germany

A US Air Force jet on a training mission crashed in western Germany yesterday, injuring the pilot as he ejected to safety, authorities said.

A police spokesman from the city of Trier said the A-10 Thunderbolt went down near the village of Laufeld, between Bonn and Trier. He said the pilot has been hospitalised but had no further details.

The jet crashed in a field just a few hundred metres from Laufeld's residential area, and the town's mayor, Karl-Josef Junk, told the German news agency DAPD that a catastrophe was "narrowly avoided". The aircraft, also known as the Warthog, was part of the 81st Fighter Squadron at the Spangdahlem Air Base, in Rhineland-Palatinate, said Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, a spokesman for the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem. Senior Airman Callon confirmed the afternoon crash.

The 52nd Fighter Wing later said in a statement the A-10 was "on a routine local training mission".

The pilot's identity and details on his condition were withheld pending the notification of his family members. A board of officers will investigate the accident, the statement said.