Military training jet crashes in woods near Alabama airport

Montgomery: military training jet crashed Friday afternoon near an Alabama airport, the Air Force said.

The crash involved a T-38 trainer aircraft assigned to the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, Lt. Steven D. Dean, Jr, the public affairs officer for the base, wrote in a news release.

The jet crashed at about 5:30 p.m. near Dannelly Field in Montgomery.

The Air Force said the conditions of the pilots weren”t immediately known. It did not say exactly how many were aboard the aircraft.

A safety investigation board will convene to investigate. Authorities said the cause of the crash wasn”t immediately known.

Marshall Taggart, executive director of the Montgomery Regional Airport, told news outlets that the aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the airport. News outlets showed a number of police cars and fire trucks at the scene.

The Columbus Air Force Base is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of Air Education and Training Command’s 19th Air Force. According to the base website, the 14th FTW mission statement is “Cultivate Airmen, Create Pilots, Connect.” The wing’s mission is specialized undergraduate pilot training.