Posted on 03/20/2020 7:08:53 AM PDT by Lazamataz
The F-16, hit by the cannon fire, caught fire and exploded having recently been refuelled and made ready for a training sortie due to take place later that day. Another aircraft received minor damage.
If anyone ever needed a reminder of the lethal dangers of working with live munitions, then a recent incident at Florennes Air Base in Belgium is the ultimate wake-up call.
It is thought a maintenance worker accidentally activated the six-barrel 20mm Vulcan M61A-1 cannon hitting another plane parked on the runway.
No-one was in the line of fire, but two technicians were taken to the medical centre on the base suffering from noise related effects
(Excerpt) Read more at warhistoryonline.com ...
Does the mechanic get a “official kill” award?...................
I heard an F 105 ground firing it’s 20mm gatling on a static range at Eglin AFB many moons ago. Remember it as the LOUDEST buzz I ever heard.
I worked on aircraft in the Air Force and there are a number of people I call “Button Pushers” who would push buttons just to see what they did. One guy set some switches that he didn’t know what they did and when power was applied to the aircraft it proceeded to pump 12,000 pounds worth of jet fuel onto the tarmac. At least he didn’t blow it up.
I'm sure he failed to follow procedures and it will come out of his paycheck, but it will take 10,000 years for him to pay it off. But hey, not many mechanics can claim credit for shooting down an F-16.
LOL
Hope the mechanic has $50 million bucks to spare.
I'd suggest about 5 years in Leavenworth.
The gun in the article was most recently used on the F-14. It was develop after ww2 and used a lot on during the Korean War.
No, 15, 16,18s all have them.
The Hogs is just BIGGER!
And know whats behind your target.
And Keep
You’re Booger Hook
Off the Bang Switch!
Ah. Another front in the World Coronavirus War then.
That’s something John McCain would do.
Never thought of that.
Clearly, Hollywood has, from time to time forgotten that.
“Pecuniary liability”...they warned us about destruction of government property. And the guy’s supervisor and his supervisor would probably have to chip in too. That’s the way the military rolls.
You need to add a column for Idiot Maintenance guys.
Wouldnt that have blown his ass off?
A little duct tape, some bondo....
They shit their pants and then keeled over from fright.
Lulz
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