{"id":23231677,"date":"2026-09-18T12:57:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T12:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:58:30","slug":"f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects Safely"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The first sign that something had gone wrong over northern Michigan was a voice on a radio frequency, telling Minneapolis Center that the other jet was about to be abandoned.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Two <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\/\">F-16 Fighting Falcons<\/a> were working a low-level training route on Thursday afternoon, 17 September. Minutes later one of them was a fireball in a field in Grand Traverse County, a few miles east of Interlochen State Park and well within sight of people\u2019s houses. The pilot came down under a parachute and survived.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The jet belonged to the 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard \u2014 the Lone Star Gunfighters, based at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, and the unit that teaches new American pilots to fly the Viper. It was a very long way from home, operating out of the Air National Guard\u2019s Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, on the other side of the state.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Date<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">Thursday 17 September 2026, afternoon<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Aircraft<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (single-engine)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Unit<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">149th Fighter Wing, Texas Air National Guard, JB San Antonio-Lackland<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Operating from<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">Combat Readiness Training Center, Alpena, Michigan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Crash site<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">Green Lake Township, Grand Traverse County, south of Traverse City<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Pilot<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">Ejected; hospitalised at Munson Medical Center in stable condition<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Civilian casualties<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">None reported; no homes struck<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:5px 12px 5px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Cause<\/td><td style=\"padding:5px 0;color:#0d1117;vertical-align:top\">Not established. Air traffic control audio refers to a possible bird strike and engine loss<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the radio calls actually said<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The two Vipers were flying VR634, a visual low-level military training route. According to audio captured by LiveATC.net and reported by CNN, the lead pilot told Minneapolis Center that his wingman may have struck a bird and was going to eject. A controller relaying the situation to other traffic described losing an engine and seeing heavy smoke.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It appears that they may have lost an engine and ejected&hellip; but we do see a lot of black smoke, which we believe is the ejected F-16.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Minneapolis Center controller<\/strong> &mdash; Audio captured by LiveATC.net, reported by CNN, 17 September 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>That is the sum of what is publicly known about the cause, and it is worth being precise about its status: this is cockpit and controller chatter in the first minutes of an emergency, not a finding. The Air Force will convene an accident investigation board, and those boards routinely overturn the first-day explanation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>One detail does hold up to scrutiny, though. The F-16 has a single engine. There is no second powerplant to limp home on, no redundancy to trade altitude against. If a Viper loses its engine at low level on a training route, the pilot has very little time and usually only one good option, which is the one this pilot took.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-helmets.jpg\" alt=\"149th Fighter Wing flight helmets with Texas revolver artwork\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Flight helmets of the 149th Fighter Wing, the Texas Air National Guard unit that trains new American F-16 pilots. The crashed jet belonged to this wing. Photo: Air National Guard \/ DVIDS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A fireball next to houses, and nobody else hurt<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Video from the scene showed a column of black smoke over farmland in Green Lake Township, near County Road 633 and Blair Townhall Road. Michigan State Police said the pilot was the only person aboard, ejected before impact, and was taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City in stable condition. No civilians were hurt and no homes were hit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Authorities did issue a shelter-in-place advisory around the wreck, which is standard practice rather than a sign of anything exotic. A crashed fighter leaves a field of jet fuel, hydraulic fluid, composites and pyrotechnic devices, and the area stays closed until an explosive ordnance team and the fire service have been through it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fX3e_KtJI3w\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:-10px;font-style:italic\">Local news coverage from the crash site south of Traverse City.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why a Texas squadron was flying over Michigan<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>It looks odd until you know what Alpena is. The Combat Readiness Training Center there gives Guard and Reserve units something they cannot get at a crowded home base: enormous, largely empty airspace over Lake Huron and the northern Lower Peninsula, plus ranges and low-level routes. Units deploy to it for concentrated blocks of flying, which is why a San Antonio-based wing was putting jets down a Michigan training route in September.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The 149th is a training wing, and that matters for what comes next. The investigation will look closely at the sortie profile, the bird-strike question, and the engine. If a bird did go down the intake of a low-flying Viper, this becomes another entry in a long and unglamorous list: birds have destroyed more fighters than most air forces care to publish.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>For now the headline is the good one. A single-engine fighter came apart over inhabited country on a routine training flight, and everybody walked away from it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: CNN, Detroit News, NBC News, CBS Detroit, Michigan State Police, 149th Fighter Wing \/ Texas Air National Guard, LiveATC.net.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What happened to the F-16 that crashed in Michigan on 17 September 2026?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">An F-16 Fighting Falcon of the 149th Fighter Wing, Texas Air National Guard, crashed in Green Lake Township in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, on the afternoon of 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected and survived. The aircraft was destroyed and no civilians were injured.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did the F-16 pilot survive the Michigan crash?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. The pilot was the only person aboard, ejected before impact and was taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. Michigan State Police described the pilot as being in stable condition. No one on the ground was hurt and no homes were struck.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What caused the F-16 crash in Grand Traverse County?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The cause has not been established. Air traffic control audio captured by LiveATC.net refers to a possible bird strike and to the aircraft losing its engine. That is first-minute radio chatter, not a finding. A US Air Force accident investigation board will determine the actual cause.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which unit did the crashed F-16 belong to?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard, known as the Lone Star Gunfighters and based at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The wing is an F-16 training unit. At the time of the accident it was operating from the Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, Michigan.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can an F-16 fly on one engine after an engine failure?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine fighter, so an engine failure leaves no second powerplant to continue on. The pilot glides, attempts a restart if altitude and time allow, and ejects if a safe landing is not achievable. This is a core difference from twin-engine types such as the F-15.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was a Texas Air National Guard jet flying in Michigan?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Air National Guard runs a Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, Michigan, which offers large, uncongested training airspace, ranges and low-level routes. Units from across the United States deploy there for concentrated periods of flying, which is why a San Antonio-based wing was operating over Michigan.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to the F-16 that crashed in Michigan on 17 September 2026?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"An F-16 Fighting Falcon of the 149th Fighter Wing, Texas Air National Guard, crashed in Green Lake Township in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, on the afternoon of 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected and survived. The aircraft was destroyed and no civilians were injured.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the F-16 pilot survive the Michigan crash?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. The pilot was the only person aboard, ejected before impact and was taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. Michigan State Police described the pilot as being in stable condition. No one on the ground was hurt and no homes were struck.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What caused the F-16 crash in Grand Traverse County?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The cause has not been established. Air traffic control audio captured by LiveATC.net refers to a possible bird strike and to the aircraft losing its engine. That is first-minute radio chatter, not a finding. A US Air Force accident investigation board will determine the actual cause.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which unit did the crashed F-16 belong to?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard, known as the Lone Star Gunfighters and based at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The wing is an F-16 training unit. At the time of the accident it was operating from the Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, Michigan.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can an F-16 fly on one engine after an engine failure?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine fighter, so an engine failure leaves no second powerplant to continue on. The pilot glides, attempts a restart if altitude and time allow, and ejects if a safe landing is not achievable. This is a core difference from twin-engine types such as the F-15.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was a Texas Air National Guard jet flying in Michigan?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Air National Guard runs a Combat Readiness Training Center at Alpena, Michigan, which offers large, uncongested training airspace, ranges and low-level routes. Units from across the United States deploy there for concentrated periods of flying, which is why a San Antonio-based wing was operating over Michigan.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/tom-froling-f-16-selfridge-9-11-25th-anniversary\/\">Tom Froling: The Selfridge F-16 Pilot Airborne on 9\/11<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/brian-udell-f-15e-supersonic-ejection-survived-1995\/\">He Ejected at 780 MPH and Lived<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/l3harris-viper-shield-f-16-electronic-warfare-production-2026\/\">Viper Shield: The F-16\u2019s Digital Armour Enters Production<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard\u2019s 149th Fighter Wing came down in Grand Traverse County on 17 September. The pilot ejected and survived.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":23231001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23231677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Duncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\"},\"headline\":\"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects Safely\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1175,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military Aviation\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing F-16C Fighting Falcon in Lone Star Gunfighters flagship markings\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects Safely\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\\/w:897\\\/h:278\\\/q:mauto\\\/ig:avif\\\/https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85\",\"name\":\"Joseph Duncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Duncan\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Duncan covers breaking defence news \u2014 fast, sharp dispatches on the Pentagon, procurement and the world\u2019s air forces.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/author\\\/josephduncan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug","description":"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/","og_locale":"it_IT","og_type":"article","og_title":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug","og_description":"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Duncan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Duncan","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Duncan","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85"},"headline":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects Safely","datePublished":"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/"},"wordCount":1175,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg","articleSection":["Military Aviation","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/","name":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects | MiGFlug","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-18T10:57:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-18T10:58:30+00:00","description":"An F-16 of the Texas Air National Guard crashed in Grand Traverse County, Michigan on 17 September 2026. The pilot ejected safely. What we know so far.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-16-149th-fighter-wing-lone-star-gunfighters-flagship.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing F-16C Fighting Falcon in Lone Star Gunfighters flagship markings"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/f-16-crash-grand-traverse-county-michigan-149th-fighter-wing-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"F-16 Crash in Michigan: Texas Guard Pilot Ejects Safely"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","name":"Afterburner - La rivista di MiGFlug","description":"Per chi \u00e8 interessato a pilotare aerei militari e argomenti correlati all&#039;aviazione.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/b969321b26faa21775f0c40e141cdf85","name":"Giuseppe Duncan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd6d4cc4c63e8c05a1f5db9308c285d6dd9753e6d076a39f8c5ed9a7d9f7c523?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joseph Duncan"},"description":"Joseph Duncan si occupa delle ultime notizie in materia di difesa, con reportage rapidi e incisivi sul Pentagono, gli appalti e le forze aeree di tutto il mondo.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/author\/josephduncan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23231677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23231706,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231677\/revisions\/23231706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23231001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23231677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23231677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23231677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}