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Saturday, December 18, 2004 - The Air Force says pilot error and a poorly designed aircraft interface caused the F-16 pilot to accidentally fire rounds into a New Jersey elementary school. A report from the Accident Investigations Board calls the firing of the aircraft's gun an "unfortunate and unintentional mistake" and says the pilot never intended for it to happen. The pilot, identified as Maj. Roberto Balzano, of the 113th Wing based at Andrews Air Force Base, accidentally fired 27 rounds at Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School during a nightly training exercise last month. There were no injuries but the...

A New Jersey talk radio host has succeeded in forcing the Egg Harbor Township board of education to reverse its ban on the Christmas classic "Silent Night," which had been dropped from the school district's holiday program based a single parental complaint. Last night's 7-0 vote by the panel means that "Silent Night" can now be included in this week's Holiday Singalong at the E.H. Slaybaugh Elementary School, where the controversy first erupted. The complaining parent, an attorney who has not been publicly identified, asked that the holiday carol be dropped from the program, even though songs about other religious...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com N.J. residents split over F-16 strafingPublished November 28, 2004 LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. (AP) -- The night custodian was going about her rounds when she heard the patter of what sounded like footsteps on the roof of the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School. She thought someone might be running atop the building, but police found nothing.     The next morning, authorities realized what had made the sound: the impact of 20 mm rounds fired by a National Guard F-16 fighter on a nighttime training flight over a target range four miles away.     The incident has divided residents of...

Military officials are investigating an incident during which an Air National Guard fighter pilot fired 20 mm rounds over South Jersey last night. The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Officials, in announcing a news conference for this afternoon, said only that the discharge of an undetermined number rounds occurred in the airspace for the Warren Grove target range in the Pine Barrens. But residents of Little Egg Harbor Township in Ocean County said investigators had converged on the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School and that it apparently was related to the fighter jet incident. The military affairs...