F-16 fighter jet landing gear does not deploy

KHON2 TV ^ | June 6, 2022, updated June 7, 2022 | Linda Dela Cruz

[SamAdams76]

Those Kamikazes never needed to land properly again so why not ditch the landing gear and let somebody else have it.

[Hulka]

A10’s hooks are backward.

They have a calendar not a clock.

They get bird strikes from the rear. . .

HA!!

[Hulka]

F-111 was supposed to, but didn’t work out that well.

F-4’s were used by the Air Force and Navy.

[Seruzawa]

It’s a two seater. Training.

[Antihero101607]

I wonder what happened, you’re supposed to be able to blow the nlg, mlg doors, the uplock hooks release the gear, and the mains are extended by gravity. I can’t remember how the nose extends. The nitrogen bottle for all that is at the back of the nose wheel well, at least the have and Schrader valve are.

[Big Red Badger]

and You Guys upgrade our
Equipment to the next Level
.
OohRah!

[HartleyMBaldwin]

That doesn’t sound right about the kamikaze planes. Why would the Japanese bother to modify the landing gear, and how could the pilots not know what was going on?

The German Me 163 rocket plane actually did jettison its wheels when it took off, and landed on a skid.

[A strike]

Are those F-16s USNavy aircraft ?

[libertylover]

It flew from Luke AFB in Arizona. With external tanks it might be able to go that far without ariel refueling.

[libertylover]

Another story says the plane flew from Luke AFB in Arizona on its way to Taiwan. I didn’t see whether Hawaii was a scheduled stop or not.

How many ariel refuelings between Holloman and RAF Lakenheath?

[libertylover]

I presume they can scratch one $64 M airplane.

I saw a picture on another link and the damage looks pretty minimal. Repair nose landing gear, radome, maybe the radar set.

[Bikkuri]

KITV4

"HONOLULU (KITV4) -- A fighter jet made a crash landing at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Monday afternoon, after its front landing gear did not deploy.

The crash happened around 2:45 p.m. The crash landing happened on runway 4R at the airport, according the Department of Transportation. The pilot used the jet’s tail hook to slow down after the front landing gear failed, DOT said.

Miraculously, the jet did not appear suffer much damage despite the rough landing.

Commercial jets landing at HNL will have to land at runway 8R due to accident, which could cause some delays for any incoming aircraft for about the next hour to 90 minutes, a spokesperson said.

No injuries or major damage done to the runway were reported.

It is unclear what military branch the aircraft belonged or the type of aircraft."

WtF?! an F-16 with a tail hook? (F-16 is USAF only, not Navy (unless that has changed since I was in)); "Unclear what branch"... DuH (USAF)

(I guess I have to give them a little slack, they ARE a news organization.. which means they have NO knowledge of the military, nor its equipment. But, I can't figure out where they got the 'tail hook' idea.. Even in the picture above, from their website, there is obviously no tail hook 🤔)

"Miraculously, the jet did not appear suffer much damage"

😆😂🤣😂😆

[Bikkuri]

That is to play OpFor (Opposing Forces (ENEMY)).

[chuckb87]

“Anyone who gears in an F-16 and walks away unhurt should never have to pay for his own beer.”

Yeah, he should repay us tax payers.

[Taxman]

WHOOPS!

When it takes full power to taxi to the terminal, the pilot will realize that he forgot to lower his landing gear!

[minnesota_bound]

I wonder if the pilot forgot to lower them....

[Jyotishi]

Maybe the pilot did forget to lower the landing gear, but you know the trend these days is to blame the equipment.

[FtrPilot]

Correct.

During Vietnam war, USAF, USMC, and USN pilots flew against Migs that had significantly different aerodynamic flight characteristics. The US fighter aircraft turn performance (turn rate & radius) was not as "good" as the Migs.

Fighter training in Air to Air Combat was against "similar" aircraft (F-4s flew against F-4s from the same squadrons).

Flying Air to Air training missions did not prepare the US pilots for the missions flown against the Migs.

To provide dissimilar Air to Air training, the Navy Top Gun instructors flew different aircraft, including, over the years, A-4M, F-5, F-18 (Against F-14s) and F-16.

[FtrPilot]

Another story says the plane flew from Luke AFB in Arizona on its way to Taiwan. I didn’t see whether Hawaii was a scheduled stop or not.

With that information, I am going to update my "guess".

Taiwan is getting F-16V, which upgrades their F-16A/B with F-16C Block 70 avionics.

My guess is: Modifications would be done at LM Aero facilities in Ft. Worth. Aircraft would then be flown to Luke AFB for test and acceptance flights. From there, the aircraft is flown to Hawaii for crew rest, then to Taiwan. Flight from Luke to Taiwan is too long.

Looking at the picture Here , it appears that the main gear are down and the nose gear is retracted.

How many ariel refuelings between Holloman and RAF Lakenheath?

A bunch. Flew as a flight of 6 F-4Ds. Configuration was 3 external fuel tanks...the centerline tank held 4000 pounds of fuel.

From Holloman to overhead Boston, we refuelled twice. We then rendezvoused with 7 KC-135s as we coasted out. Each F-4 had its own tanker. Then as the centerline went empty, we refuelled to fill up the centerline. This way, we always had enough fuel to divert if we had an emergency.

So, my estimate is I would have refuelled 12 times.

[FtrPilot]

Air Force fighters do have tail hooks. Air Force runways typically have approach end and departure end cables. The tail hook would be used for high-speed abort on takeoff or landing emergencies, such as hydraulic failure where the aircraft has no brakes.

Looking at the picture, it appears to me that the main gear are extended and the nose gear either collapsed or never came down.

If the nose gear never came down, the pilot would not lower the hook.

If the pilot lowered the hook then, I would guess, the pilot had brake failure, lowered the hook, caught the departure end cable and the rapid deceleration collapsed the nose gear.

I can assure that plane will fly again.