Pilot safe after F-16 crashes in Maryland

April 5 (UPI) -- Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday said a pilot ejected and sustained non-life-threatening injuries after a D.C. Air National Guard F-16C crashed in a wooded area in Clinton, Md.

Officials at Joint Base Andrews, located in Maryland, said the jet plane assigned to its 113th Wing crashed at about 9:15 a.m. approximately 6 miles southwest from the air base in the greater Washington, D.C., area. The plane was flying with other D.C. Air National Guard planes in a routine training mission.

Prince George's County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said homes near the scene of the crash were evacuated as a precaution. He said the pilot who ejected was picked up by a military helicopter and taken to a hospital.

Brady said the pilot is being evaluated and is in good condition.

Local resident Kent Roberson told NBC News 4 Washington he was driving through a residential area nearby when the plane crashed.

"I just heard a loud boom, I guess ... like how a large tree falls and shakes the ground," Roberson said. "That's what it felt like and what I heard."

Authorities sealed off the area near the crash site.