Two South Carolina Air National Guard pilots eject safely after crash

[June 08, 2016]    (Reuters) - Two South Carolina Air National Guard fighter pilots ejected safely from their jets after they collided over eastern Georgia while performing routine night operations, the National Guard said on social media on Wednesday.

The two South Carolina Air National Guard F-16 fighter jets collided at about 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday over a military area in Jefferson County, Georgia, and then crashed, the South Carolina Air National Guard said on Facebook.

The pilots of each of the single-seat aircraft ejected safely after the mid-air collision during routine night-flying operations, the guard said.

There were no reports of injuries on the ground, according to the guard.

The incident comes five days after a Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron pilot was killed when his F/A-18 crashed in Smyrna, Tennessee, and an Air Force Thunderbirds squadron pilot was unhurt when his F-16 jet crashed in Colorado.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Alison Williams)

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