Posted on 04/10/2019 1:20:16 PM PDT by servo1969
The F-16, which suffered considerable damage in January during an exercise above Vlieland, appears to have been hit by its own ammunition. At least one fired cartridge caused damage to the cladding of the device. Parts of the ammunition also ended up in the engine.
No one was injured. The pilot has followed emergency procedures and the jet can safely land at Leeuwarden Air Base.
Investigation The incident happened on January 21, when two F-16s fired with their on-board cannon at a target on the Vliehors training ground on Vlieland.
The Security Inspectorate inspects how one of the devices was able to fire itself. The inspectorate also wants to know whether the flight crew or ground personnel were at risk during the exercise.
The investigation into the incident is now in full swing. Practical tests are conducted and the inspectorate speaks with stakeholders and managers. "It is a serious case. We therefore want to find out what happened and how we can prevent this in the future," says Inspector General Bargerbos.
It is not known how long the investigation will last.
Nou, verdomd.
Faster than a speeding bullet!!!
If you’re faster than a speeding bullet, maybe you shouldn’t be firing forwards?
Loose cannon mount or firing in a very high G turn?
Bad ammo, too small of a load......................
Pilot error.
self firing gun? I thought that was impossible?
My sister who was in the Air Force, tells a story where a NK Mig attempted to shoot down a Blackbird. The story goes that when the MIG reached it’s max altitude, it nosed up and wildly fired it’s air to air missile.
The Blackbird, detecting the launch, gained even more altitude. The air to air missile eventually lost the ability to climb any more and “fell over”. At which time it started to track the only other signature it could find - the Mig.
My sister insists that the NKs are the only country that has successfully shoot down their own aircraft using a self fired missile.
a good guesstimate
Sounds like a cookoff round firing out of breech.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!.................
makes sense. it’s a 20mm cannon, the round would blow up real good.
Does the Dutch F-16 use the US gatling cannon, or the Euro-preferred single barrel/”revolver” fed one?
Yep ..... tag the lot number , put in an ADR with EOD and git rid ov et !
Pilot error.firing in a very high G turn? - Tenacious 1The opposite, I think.
Grumman Test Pilot Don Evans( http://www.grummanpark.org/content/don-evans-grumman-test-pilot--flight-no-8 but for some reason making a link to it doesnt work right)told of making the mistake of raising the nose of his Sabre and firing a clearing burst to validate his guns functionality on the approach of a combat situation.He then brought the nose back down - with the result that he overtook his own ammunition, as this article puts it, and damaged his own plane.
Lt. Fife was unavailable for comment.
F-104 Starfighters did the “self-shoot down” bit as well: Shoot down towards a target on the ground. Continuing in the dive, the aircraft (already faster than the bullets) flies below the bullet trajectories (which are slowing down slightly due to air resistance), and then the airplane has to pull up from the ground and so slows down. Bullets come from “behind” and hit the Starfighter.
Misaligned gun or mis-attached/loosened gun pod on the plane could do it too. (And may have happened here.)
By the way.
Notice that the administrators want to find out “IF” the aircrew was “ever in danger” - WHEN THE BLOODY AIRPLANE HAD BULLET HOLES IN IT! That is WHAT BULLET HOLES DO TO AIRPLANES!
Bullet holes ALWAYS put the airplane and its crew “in danger” .
So did the F-11A Tiger. The first US plane to successfully shoot itself down when the test pilot fired the cannons while exceeding 800 knots. The aircraft caught up with the rounds and the engine was foddered.
“If youre faster than a speeding bullet, maybe you shouldnt be firing forwards?”
In straight and level flight, perhaps, but Colonel Phil “Hands” Handley achieved a super sonic air-to-air gun kill in his F-4 during the Vietnam War.
“firing in a very high G turn?”
Hands was in a high-G turn, Mach 1.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPLZazga4RM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO3nAqF2Y8U
Sadly, Hands passed about a month ago. True conservative patriot and hero. . .and published commentator on national security issues. . .
I was lucky to be a close friend of his. He will be missed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.