U.S. Air Force attack jet crashes in Germany

BERLIN - A U.S. Air Force attack jet on a training mission crashed in western Germany on Friday, injuring the pilot as he ejected to safety, authorities said.

A police spokesman from the city of Trier said the A-10 Thunderbolt went down near the village of Laufeld, between the former West German capital of Bonn and Trier. The spokesman, speaking on a departmental policy of anonymity, said the pilot has been hospitalized but had no further details.

The jet crashed in a field just a few hundred yards from Laufeld's residential area, and the town's mayor, Karl-Josef Junk, told the German news agency DAPD that a catastrophe was "narrowly avoided."

The twin-engine A-10 is used to provide close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks and other targets.

The aircraft, also known as the Warthog, was part of the 81st Fighter Squadron at the Spangdahlem Air Base, in Rhineland Palatinate, said Senior Airman Nathanael Callon, a spokesman for the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem. Callon confirmed the afternoon crash.

The 52nd Fighter Wing later said in a statement the A-10 was "was on a routine local training mission."

The pilot's identity and details on his condition were withheld pending the notification of his family members. A board of officers will investigate the accident, the statement said.

Spangdahlem Air Base, founded in May 1948, is one of 16 major operating locations for the U.S. Air Force in Europe, and about 5,500 military personnel are currently assigned to the base, according to its website.