Small private Planes

ALESSANDRO GAROFALO/REUTERS

A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet, like the one seen here, collided with a private plane over South Carolina, officials said.

Courtesy WCBD

An Air Force F-16 fighter jet and a Cessna private plane collided about 11 miles north of Charleston, S.C., authorities said.

Courtesy WCBD

An Air Force F-16 fighter jet and a Cessna private plane collided about 11 miles north of Charleston, S.C.

An Air Force fighter jet plowed into a private plane over South Carolina, creating fireballs that rained debris over a wide area and terrified residents of a trailer park, authorities said Tuesday.

The military aircraft, from nearby Shaw Air Force Base, appeared to slam into the side of the smaller plane, witnesses said. Both crafts burst into flames, but went in opposite directions. Fiery hunks of debris landed in a RV camp, sending residents running. There were no reports of injuries on the ground.

LinkedIn "We were freaking out. When we seen the fireballs ... we told people to run!"

Two people in the Cessna 150 were killed. The Air Force pilot, identified as Maj. Aaron Johnson, was able to safely eject from the cockpit, officials said, according to WCIV-TV.

The longtime flyer was found by rescuers and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Air Force officials said. He had been on approach to landing at the base and was flying at 2, 000 to 3, 000 feet, authorities said.

RICHARD ELLIS/EPA

Charleston, S.C., police search residential area canal for wreckage from a mid-air collision between a civilian plane and a F-16 fighter jet. The two people on the smaller craft were killed. The military pilot survived.

RICHARD ELLIS/EPA

State police man checkpoints in Moncks Corner, S.C., to protect debris from the mid-air crash of a F-16 fighter jet and a civilian plane.