Posted on 03/18/2005 5:00:03 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Friday, March 18, 2005 - An Air Force pilot was able to safely eject moments before his F-16 crashed just short of the runway at Nellis Air Force Base.
The aircraft was assigned to the 16th Weapons Squadron at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School based at Nellis.
The crash occurred about 8:34 a.m., military officials said in a statement. The pilot was taken to a hospital, where he was being evaluated and treated for minor scratches.
Officials said a safety board has been formed to investigate the crash.
Ejections can be lethal.
I was at a supplier conference at LM Aero two weeks ago and was told that the pilot literally crashes through the glass. Ouch.
Sounds like it was on the desert side of the base. If he'd come down on the opposite end, he could have likely taken out several apartment complexes.
Newspaper out there reads that he fell short - low speed for approach makes it sound like an engine failure - if that's the case, I feel for the guys at Building 858 (if they haven't changed the numbers). It's going to be an interesting investigation panel - I spent time in front of one of them before out there.
LAWN DART BUMP!
We better scrap the whole F-16 program. Its an expensive and unnecessary system that obviously doesn't work. /sarcasm
Only if the canopy fails to separate - then the seat has canopy breakers above the pilots head to punch a hole. Otherwise, the canopy is separated from the aircraft with explosive bolts and is jettisoned as the seat comes out of the aircraft.
That's what I was thinking, too--his engine quit and he didn't quit make the runway. Just a guess. We'll have to see what comes later.
Running out of airspeed, altitude and ideas used to be lethal...now in the PC USAF...who knows.
We did the same thing in A-4s in Navy Flight School. The window you were trying to hit was 200 kts, at 200 ft AGL, 1500 ft short of the runway then flare your way to victory.
Thanks for the clarification. It was pretty busy and I thought it a little harsh. We were looking at the full mock up of JSF. Since I have zero experience in the AF, I am more than a little naive in these matters.
How come they always come out with minor scratches?
Problem with the 16 though is if you lose the engine, you have to hope that the EPU kicks in. If it fails, then you have no electric to drive your control surfaces, or your flight control computers. At that point, you might as well be flying an expensive desk. Once/if the EPU fires, you have (if I remember right) around 7 minutes of electricity to get it somewhere safe, after that, it's time to leave the office. If you're at low altitude, low speed, and the EPU hesitates or comes online slowly, you might as well get out.
Or so we always let them believe. Hold up a spare part on taxi though, and watch them panic...
Amen,.......Infinite Grace and Mercy,.......In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen!!!
(Romans 10:17)
I don't think US fighter aircraft crash enough!
You should have seen the attrition rate 30 and 40 years ago. We've got a long way to go to catch up with the past. /sarcasm :^)
Wow, you learn something new every day. The cable installation on the manufacturing floor of the F-16 is amazing. Didn't know these details. Scary.
Old joke: If it works, they can't complain. If it doesn't, they can't complain either. :0)
Maybe he was up against crew day and had to land NOW!
Or, maybe he didn't want to fill out the post flight paperwork.
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