Associated Press Hazardous materials and Air Force personnel collect debris along the Garden State Parkway near Tuckerton, N.J., yesterday, after an F-16 from the New Jersey Air National Guard crashed during a training mission. The plane crashed at about 10:45 a.m. EST near the Garden State Parkway and debris was scattered across the highway, a major north-south route, said John Hagerty, a state police spokesman. No cars on the parkway were damaged.

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. - An F-16 with the New Jersey Air National Guard crashed near a busy highway yesterday, and the pilot ejected safely, officials said.

The pilot, based at the 177th Fighter Wing at Pomona, parachuted into woods about one-quarter mile east of the Garden State Parkway. He suffered minor cuts and bruises. His identity was not released.

The jet had been practicing bomb drops at the Warren Grove range and was returning to base when a malfunction occurred, according to Col. Michael Cosby, the unit's commander.

Debris from the jet was scattered across the parkway, though no cars were damaged, said John Hagerty, a state police spokesman. The highway is a major north-south route.

"I heard an explosion and I saw this huge fireball in the sky," said Michelle Pace, who was driving on the parkway.

"I got so shaky, I pulled over and called 911. I thought the plane had exploded in the sky, because it was just a huge fireball."

It wasn't clear whether the pilot was able to steer the jet after the malfunction occurred, according to Cosby. But he said pilots are trained to try to jettison the aircraft in an unpopulated area.

An investigation panel will be convened to determine the cause of the malfunction and evaluate the pilot's actions, he said.

Since Sept. 11, fighter jets from the 177th have been among those flying combat air patrols over New York and Washington. F-16s are designed to attack air and ground targets and were used during the Gulf War and to patrol no-fly zones in Iraq.