Mid-air collision between F-16, small plane near Charleston, South Carolina

The station reported the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was at the scene searching for the F-16 pilot, who reportedly ejected from jet.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters indicated the aircraft hit each other a little farther south, about 11 miles from Charleston. No one on the ground was hurt by falling debris, which Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said fell largely in “a remote, marshy area”.

Wayne Ware told The Post and Courier of Charleston he was going for a walk when he heard the crash happen.

The Associated Press reported the NTSB said the two people killed were in the Cessna. He did not see the initial impact, but heard it.

The fighter pilot was flying solo practicing instrument approaches to a military base and was communicating with Charleston air traffic controllers, military officials said.

The F-16 was designed in 1970 for the United States Air Force as an alternative to fighter aircraft that had grown increasingly heavy and unmaneuverable.

It wasn’t clear if a flight plan had been filed, but Berkeley County officials say the civilian pilot had indicated he was traveling to Myrtle Beach. In a statement, Shaw officials say a team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will work to determine the cause of the accident.

The F-16, a mainstay of the USA Air Force, can fly at twice the speed of sound.

The FAA identified the small private plane as a Cessna 150, which broke up considerably after the collision.

Maj. Morshe Araujo, a spokeswoman at Air Force headquarters at the Pentagon, says the F-16 originated from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.