A pilot ejected from his F-16 jet shortly before it crashed at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in southeast Houston Wednesday morning, the Houston Fire Department said.

Captain Ruy Lozano, a department spokesman, said Houston firefighters are assisting the Ellington Field fire department in putting out a fire at the airfield, where the plane burst into flames.

North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said in a statement that the pilot of the F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 138th Fighter Wing crashed on take-off around 10:30 a.m. and was able to safely eject. He is being evaluated at a local hospital.

The pilot was conducting a training flight, NORAD said.

A man who answered the phone at Ellington Field Fire and Emergency Services said the department could not give out any information about the incident at this time. Authorities have evacuated the airfield and closed Beltway 8 between Crenshaw Road and Galveston Road.

Ellington Field is home to the 147th Reconnaissance Wing of the Texas Air National Guard. The wing's public affairs office did not immediately return a request for comment.

