A military aircraft lost altitude at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany / One person was injured, and the pilot reportedly ejected

An aviation incident occurred Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Spangdahlem Air Base in western Germany, where one person was injured and witnesses saw an aircraft rapidly losing altitude and a dense column of smoke.

The base is located in the Eifel region, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Bitburg-Prüm district authorities announced that, according to initial information, one person was injured. A large-scale emergency response was launched at the scene, while information reported by regional broadcaster SWR indicated that a military aircraft was involved.

Several local residents said they saw black smoke rising above the base. Birthe Thomsen, the mayor of Speicher, said she saw an aircraft rapidly losing altitude, after which she called emergency services.

According to sources cited by SWR, two aircraft had taken off and one may have crashed. The pilot reportedly used the ejection seat, but the information had not been officially confirmed by the U.S. military or German authorities.

Firefighters from Trier were initially alerted, but were later asked to return because the incident occurred inside the U.S. base. The type of aircraft and the cause of the accident were unknown. F-16 aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force are stationed at Spangdahlem.