Armed F-16 Slams Into Warehouse

An F-16 fighter jet slammed into a California warehouse Thursday loaded with live ammunition—but while 13 people were hurt, it appears none of the ammo went off, CNN reports. A fact sheet on the jet says it can carry a cannon with missiles and 500 rounds. The jet apparently suffered hydraulic failure while returning from a routine training mission to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, prompting the pilot to eject and sending the jet into the warehouse. Among the injured, three are still hospitalized in stable condition, but no injuries were life-threatening. "Thank God everyone is safe and OK," says Mike Johnson, head of the company that owns the warehouse. "We'll have to see what this means for the company, but right now our concern is with our employees and their families."

Military officials say they safely removed unexploded weaponry from the jet and detonated it near the warehouse on Friday, per Fox News. The pilot, who parachuted to a field in the base, was briefly hospitalized with minor injuries. The shock of the crash was captured in a video that someone in the warehouse posted, and then unposted, on Facebook—but a nearby driver whose dashcam caught the crash says he was amazed after pulling off the freeway and seeing the site. "It looked like a bomb had gone off in the building," he tells the LA Times. The warehouse is run by See Water, Inc, which makes products for HVAC, utility, wastewater, and other industries. (Another fighter jet ejected a passenger by mistake.)