An F-16 fighter jet has collided with a small Cessna over South Carolina, killing two people aboard the Cessna.

The mid-air collision spread debris over a wide area of land, about 20km north of Charleston, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The US Air Force confirmed the F-16 pilot as Major Aaron Johnson from a base in central South Carolina.

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A group of F-16 fighter jets in the UAE. The same model as the one in the crash. Photo: Getty

Reports said the man, who’s been a pilot since 2005, was alert and awake after ejecting from his plane in time.

He was the only person on board the jet.

A witness said the military plane broadsided the diminutive Cessna while another told the Courier of Charleston he heard the crash when he was out walking.

“I turned around, and I saw the jet. Pieces started falling out of the sky,” one witness told Associated Press.

The jet’s engine landed at a nearby camp site, the witness said.

Witnesses at the campsite described to NBC seeing a massive mid air explosion and fireball in the sky when the collision happened.

No one on the ground was hurt by falling debris, which fell mostly in a remote, marshy area of land.