June 15, 2000 (by Lieven Dewitte) -
An F-16 fighter jet crashed in the southern Arizona desert Friday and the pilot ejected safely.
The plane went down during an air-to-air combat training exercise 14 miles southwest of Sells east of the Barry M. Goldwater Range.
Luke AFB officials grounded all F-16s at the base after the crash. Friday's crash was the ninth of a Luke-based F-16 in less than two years. Luke, located in suburban Phoenix, is the world's largest F-16 training base, flying nearly 38, 000 sorties a year.
