A day of diplomatic blow-ups in Europe just had a more literal, if perhaps more tragic echo, in the US when minutes ago in a scene straight out of Breaking Bad took place in real life when an F-16 fighter jet is said to have crashed into a civillian Cessna airplane, above Highway 52, near Cooper River in Berkely County, 30 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina.
JUST IN: Pictures from scene of the plane crash at Lewis Field Plantation in Moncks Corner. #chsnews [7] #BREAKING [8] pic.twitter.com/TXO0eNd3ih [9]
— WCBD (@WCBD) July 7, 2015 [10]
My dad saw explosion in the sky driving down old Highway 52 on the way to church - learning now it was a plane crash. @postandcourier [11]
— Shawn Wood (@shawnwood) July 7, 2015 [12]
According to witness and official reports, the F-16’s pilot ejected safely, according to WCSC's Bill Walsh, but debris from the plane is strewn on the ground near Lewisfield Plantation. As the photo below shows, what appears to be an plane engine was found in a trailer park.
More information is being released on a crash between F-16, Cessna planes near SC highway http://t.co/UQyC4OA7LE [13] pic.twitter.com/jUeQiCFmdI [14]
— WFSB Channel 3 (@WFSBnews) July 7, 2015 [15]
According to RT [16], local firefighters and first responders are on the scene and looking for the wreckage of the civilian plane, with a helicopter searching the nearby Tailrace Canal. It is unknown how many people were on board the Cessna, or whether they survived.
[17]
The South Carolina Air National Guard tweeted that none of its planes are believed to be involved in the air accident.
In wake of recent reports of F-16 mishap in Berkeley Cnty, no @theSCANG [18] F-16s were involved. #sctweets [19] #scnews [20]
— SC AirNationalGuard (@theSCANG) July 7, 2015 [21]
A photo of the wreckage identifies the F-16 as part of the 55th Fighter Squadron (55 FS), part of the US Air Force’s 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
Amy Ramsey Dye posted these two pictures of the crash on Facebook. #chsnews [7] pic.twitter.com/6MnaxH3RzS [22]
— Joe Wright (@Sctvman) July 7, 2015 [23]
