Traverse City, Michigan - A Texas-based US military F-16 fighter jet crashed Thursday during a training mission in Michigan, with the pilot able to eject, the unit to which the aircraft belonged said.
"A Texas Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 149th Fighter Wing...crashed during a routine training mission" near Traverse City, the unit said in a statement on its Facebook page.
"The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft. The incident is under investigation," it added, without providing further details.
Grand Traverse County Emergency Management in Michigan said on Facebook that an evacuation order is "in effect due to a plane crash."
And Gary Peters, one of the state's two US senators, said on X that he was "aware of the plane crash near Traverse City" and was "closely monitoring the situation as we work to get more information on the incident."
Video footage circulating on social media showed a tall tower of black smoke rising up into the sky from the site of the crash.