BREAKING: A US fighter plane crashed in the forest near Engelmannsreuth, northern Bavaria on Tuesday morning. The pilot was able to escape using the aircraft's ejector seat.
Firefighters were called to the scene at around 9.30 am, nordbayern.de reported.
Police said that the fires from the crash were still being extinguished and that the pilot had only suffered light injuries and was being treated by a doctor.
The reason for the crash remains unclear.
"All we know is that we're aware of the crash and that we're investigating at the moment," a spokesman for the 50th Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Force Base told The Local.
Roman Markert, deputy police chief in nearby Pegnitz, told nordbayern.de that the aircraft had taken off from the military training ground at Grafenwöhr.
He added that the plane had crashed while executing a manoeuvre.
Firefighters are currently trying to limited the spread of the blaze from the fuel-laden aircraft. Roads through the forest are blocked to raffic across a wide area.
One man who was gathering berries in the forest at the time told nordbayern.de that he had seen the jets flying overhead in formation before he smelled fire and watched the planes circle above one point nearby.
Another said that the jet had been emitting sparks while diving towards the ground. He said it appeared that the pilot had tried several times to restart the engine.
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