Concerns Remain One Week After Jet Crashes in Clinton Neighborhood

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- One week after an F-16 went down yards away from homes in a Maryland neighborhood, residents are wondering if it's safe to breathe the air where they live.

Parts of the military jet are literally still laying in the woods behind the people's homes. Now one week later, they are concerned about when things will go back to normal.

It was a mid air fireball over Clinton, Maryland, as a pilot was on a training mission when something went wrong. He safely ejected, right before the F-16 plummeted to the ground.

A man said his home was damaged after the crash.

"And we walked in. The first thing we saw was right here, it was water all over the floor and it was dripping down," said Reginald Stewart of Prince George's County. "Something was wrong."

When the jet crashed into the woods, debris scattered into some people's yards. Now the base is asking residents not to touch any part or the plane they may encounter.

But residents have other concerns. Like is the air quality safe? And has jet fuel seeped into the creek nearby?

"As a parent of two young people you know, when planes go down there is chemicals, there is all kind of things on these planes, ammunition, so we were worried about the environment," Carlos Williams said.

Wednesday, military personal answered questions.

A statement from Joint Base Andrews said air quality " testing has been conducted" and no contamination has been found.

The base also said as the clean-up continues, the "air, soil and water" will be tested.

It could take up to 30 days before the debris from the jet is hauled off because evidence has to be collected.

As for Stewart, he has no running water. He said investigators asked him to turn it off.

"I don't want to have a situation where there is two or three years down the road and there is some impact from a chemical that we don't know about," he said.

Now he is in a hotel. He's also working with his insurance company to see who will fix the damages at his home.

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