An F-16 fighter jet has crashed two miles south of Joint Base Andrews, near Washington DC.

NBC News reported that the pilot was able to eject from the plane and was located by emergency services.

The Lockheed Martin jet appears to have gone down in a wooded area in Clinton, Maryland. Some roads are closed in the area.

Kent Roberson was driving through a residential area nearby when the crash happened.

“I just heard a loud boom, I guess… like how a large tree falls and shakes the ground,” he told NBC. “That’s what it felt like and what I heard.”

Mr Roberson said he saw flames and smoke rising from the ground to his right.

Mark Brady of the Prince George's County Fire & Emergency Services, said: “We have reports that there was one pilot on board the aircraft who parachuted out, and has been picked up by a military helicopter and has been taken to an area hospital."

NBC said the pilot, who was on a routine training mission, was assigned to the 113th Wing. He has non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The 113th Wing guards the US against threats by air. They are one of the busiest wings in the country, with as many as 3,000 flights per year guarding Washington's airspace.