A military pilot from Chelmsford managed to avoid disaster Thursday when he ejected from his F-16 fighter jet before it crashed in a Colorado field after his elite aerial team had completed a flyover during an Air Force Academy commencement President Obama was attending, officials said.

Air Force Major Alex Turner, 33, a member of the Thunderbirds performance unit, safely bailed out of his aircraft at about 1 p.m. Mountain Time before it landed just south of Peterson Air Force Base, the military said. No one was injured.

That outcome stood in stark contrast to a crash in Tennessee about one hour later, when a jet assigned to the Navy’s special performance squadron, the Blue Angels, crashed during a practice session in Smyrna, claiming the life of the pilot, whom officials did not identify.

The Thunderbirds said on Twitter that Turner “ejected safely [before the crash] and is walking around unhurt.’’

The team added, “No one was hurt on the ground and there is no hazard to the public.’’

It was not clear Thursday night what caused the crash, and officials said an investigation could take months.

The Air Force said Turner was with “medical personnel undergoing evaluation as a precaution.’’ The Thunderbirds said later Thursday that Turner was in good condition.

His mother, Ann Turner, of Chelmsford, said Thursday evening that she and her husband had not yet spoken with their son but were relieved he was safe. There were anxious moments, she said, after initial media reports indicated that a pilot had ejected from his jet, but her son had not been identified.

Once she learned Turner had safely ejected, she said, “I could breathe again. It’s a relief.’’

Ann Turner said Alex grew up in Chelmsford from the time he was 8 and always dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. At age 4, he even asked Santa Claus to bring him an F-16 for Christmas.

Officials on Thursday indicated that Turner tried to guide his plane away from residences once he realized the aircraft was having problems. It came to rest in an open field, and several people hailed Turner as a hero on social media.

“You’ve got to be able to think quickly, and we’re very proud that he was able to do it,’’ Ann Turner said.

She said her son graduated from Chelmsford High School in 2001 and lives with his wife and daughter in Nevada. He has never expressed concerns about the condition of the jets, she said.

Before the crash, Turner and his fellow Thunderbirds performed multiple flyovers above the packed football stadium at the academy.

Obama had addressed the graduates, and news of the crash broke while his motorcade was returning to Peterson Air Force Base.

Obama was later photographed greeting Turner after the crash.

‘‘The president thanked the pilot for his service to the country and expressed his relief that the pilot was not seriously injured,’’ White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

According to the Thunderbirds’ website, Turner has logged more than 1,200 hours as an Air Force pilot, including more than 270 combat hours flying over Libya and Iraq.

He has also served as an instructor pilot at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

A 2005 graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Air Force ROTC program, Turner “is also an avid guitar player, and enjoys snowboarding,’’ the website says. He played ice hockey at Rensselaer and raced in the school’s autocross club, according to the Thunderbirds’ site.

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hammond, the commander of the Thunderbirds, said during an afternoon briefing that the “Air Force will perform a thorough investigation into the causes of the mishap.’’

Hammond said there was no history of problems with Turner’s aircraft.

He added that he spoke with Turner after the crash, and “he seemed like he had all of his cognitive abilities.’’

The previous Thunderbirds crash was in 2003, when a jet went down at an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho as about 85,000 spectators looked on. The pilot safely ejected and suffered minor injuries.

In 2005, two Thunderbird jets made contact while flying in formation at the Chicago Air and Water Show, and a missile rail was dislodged.

Hammond said Thursday that it is customary for his unit to stand down for a period after a safety incident, but it was not immediately clear how long that moratorium would last.

The Thunderbirds have 40 performances on their schedule this year.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe. Lauren Fox can be reached atlauren.fox@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurenbfox.