CALLAWAY, Va. (AP) -- An Air Force fighter jet on a low-level training mission crashed in rural Virginia on Thursday near a stock car speedway. Authorities said the two pilots parachuted to safety.
The pilots came to rest in trees and were not injured, but were taken to a hospital for observation, said Capt. Robert Strickler of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
The crash near Rocky Mount in western Virginia, about 20 miles south of Roanoke, caused no injuries or major damage on the ground. At least one piece of wreckage landed by a house, but the main crash site was about 200 years from the widely scattered houses.
The F-15E from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base near Goldsboro, N.C., was one of two planes performing the low-level training, according to the base public affairs office.
The jet crashed a few miles west of Rocky Mount near a rural intersection about a quarter-mile from the Franklin County Speedway.
Its owner, Whitey Taylor, said he was arriving at the speedway for a stock car practice later in the day when the planes flew over.
``I looked up at it and, `Shew!' A shiny piece of metal flew off. It looked like the wing. And he just flew straight up, and I saw this big huge fire come off the top of the jet,'' Taylor said.
The plane jackknifed and slammed into the ground in flames, he said. Taylor, 53, said he helped pull the pilots out of the trees.
The crew members were Capt. Darren P. Wees and Capt. Daniel C. Spier, according to a statement from the base. Spokesman 2nd Lt. Jamie Humphries said officials were still gathering information about the cause of the crash.
