Both pilots survived after ejecting before impact. One of them had been left hanging from a powerline after his parachute got caught, the prefecture of the region said.
ADVERTISEMENTA pilot was left hanging from a powerline after a crash involving his F16 fighter jet in France, authorities say.
The Belgian military aircraft came down in northwestern France on Thursday morning, causing eight homes to be evacuated.
Both pilots survived after ejecting before impact. One of them had been left hanging from a powerline after his parachute got caught, the prefecture of the region said.
The F16 fighter plane had taken off from Florennes in Belgium and was unarmed when it crashed.
Authorities placed a 500-metre security perimeter around the crash site, mobilised 40 firefighters and 20 rescue vehicles, and created a crisis management operation in response.
The crash occurred in the French region of Brittany between Landaul and Pluvigner, near Vannes, police said.
The Belgian Air Force tweeted that the pilots had been flying to the French Naval Air Station at Lorient, just west of where the crash took place.
The air force confirmed the pilots used their ejectable seats to exit the aircraft.
The F16 that crashed had been commissioned in 1983 and had been modernised, the air force added.
Photos posted to social media and by local media organisations showed damage to a roof of a house, smoke, and fire after people claimed to have witnessed the plane crash.