Military aircraft crashes near US air base in Spangdahlem, Germany

A military aircraft has crashed near the US air base in Spangdahlem, Germany, on Tuesday.

The plane crash occurred at approximately 2.30 pm local time (12:30 UTC). The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

The US military confirmed that the plane was an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing and that its pilot was able to safely eject from the aircraft.

Local authorities in the remote Eifel region also reported that one person had been injured. 

"Following a plane crash in the vicinity of US Air Base Spangdahlem, fire and emergency response teams from the Eifel District of Bitburg-Prüm were dispatched to the scene," the district said on its website.

"No comments can be made on the further details of the event from the side of the Eifel district at this time."

A NATO operations center

Spangdahlem Air Base is a NATO operations center that was built in the early 1950s. The US Air Force's 52nd Fighter Wing is garrisoned there. The base is home to an F-16 fighter jet squadron comprising around 20 aircraft.

It is located north of the city of Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate, not far west of the border to Luxembourg.

The facility at Spangdahlem is considered one of the most important airfields for the US military in Germany, alongside Ramstein base, outside the city of Kaiserslautern.

Some 5,000 US military and civilian personnel-plus dependents are stationed at Spangdahlem, with around 700 to 800 Germans also employed at the facility.

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