Trainer jet crashes in US, pilots injured

HOUSTON - A jet trainer crashed near a US Air Force base runway in the state of Texas Friday, injuring two pilots aboard, local media reported.

The incident happened at Sheppard Air Force Base in north Texas around 7 am CST Friday, The Times Record News in Wichita Falls reported. The crash was allegedly caused by a bird strike.

The two-seat, twin-engine T-38 Talon went down at the edge of a heavily wooded area and burst into flames. Two pilots ejected from their jet before it crashed to the ground and suffered minor injuries.

One of the pilots is American, the other German, the report said. The US pilot was instructing his trainee, a member of the German Air Force, when the crash happened. The two are reported to be part of the base's Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program which trains students from nine NATO countries.

Sheppard Air Force Base is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command. The base is named in honor of Texas Senator John Morris Sheppard, a supporter of military preparations before World War II.