BREAKING NEWS: Military Fighter Jet Has Crashed in Virginia
An F-15 military fighter jet has crashed in western Virginia and State Police are en route to the scene, authorities tell The Associated Press.
In Deerfield, Virginia, multiple news outlets have reported already that an aircraft crashed shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time in a wooded part of the region around 180 miles west of Washington, DC. By 10:30, the news site had confirmed that a spokesperson for the National Travel Safety Board identified the aircraft as a military jet.
Officials with the August County Sheriff’s Office told a local ABC News affiliate that a loud boom had been heard in the mountainous part of Deerfield at around 9:15 a.m., and that witnesses reported black smoke emerging from the scene. The News Leader also reported that Virginia State Police had been notified roughly at the same time of a plane crash, and that the debris was likely that of an F-15 jet.
“I’m on location, with smoke, and we do have debris,” the News Leader quoted a responder as saying just after 10:00 a.m. by way of an emergency radio dispatch. “I got debris everywhere… I haven’t located anybody.”
Augusta County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher Becky Coynter said witnesses reported hearing a loud noise that sounded like an explosion just before 9 a.m. Wednesday in Deerfield.
Coynter said authorities don’t know whether anyone was injured in the crash.
A news release from state police says officials located the crash site, with heavy smoke coming from the side of a mountain. The statement says state and local police are trying to reach the site. Police did not offer other details.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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