USAF Thunderbird Plane Crash Near Trona Airport

An F-16C Fighting Falcon – U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds – crashed on a dry lake bed adjacent to Trona Airport in San Bernardino County, California, south of Death Valley.

https://nypost.com/2025/12/03/us-news/us-military-plane-goes-down-in-massive-plume-of-black-smoke-in-california-desert/

In 1960 I witnessed something similar to this when a US Navy drone flew over the high school during lunch break and it crashed on the lake about 1/4 mile from the school. People from the plant including the AP&CC photographer, Al Gonzalez were pretty quick in responding.

When the Navy arrived they confiscated Al’s film and they put the drone on a flatbed and hauled it away.

One thought on “USAF Thunderbird Plane Crash Near Trona Airport

  1. Patrick Dunne

    I did catch the story last night on the national NBC news. I thought I recognized Searles lake and mountains in the background. There are pictures on a Trona facebook page.

    Reply

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