Pilot Ejects Before F-16 Hits Swamp

In the third military crash in Georgia in a week, an Air Force pilot parachuted to safety before his F-16 fighter went down in a remote swamp Monday.

The plane crashed about 20 miles north of Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia’s largely rural Atkinson County, said base spokesman Airman 1st Class Terrance Townsend.

The pilot, 1st Lt. Joseph C. Thomas, appeared to be in good condition, Townsend said. He was picked up by loggers and treated at the base hospital.

The cause of the crash wasn’t known. The single-seat warplane was en route to the Grand Bay Bombing Range, 10 miles north of the base, for a training mission, Townsend said.