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F-16 Accidents & Mishaps for the United States Air Force

F-16 Aircraft Database

F-16 Accidents & Mishaps for the United States Air Force



Found 449 aircraft, displaying 136-150 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
02 May 1984 [w/o] 82045 82-1045 USAF 16 TFTS F-16B Block 15N Details
Destroyed in a crash on Utah Test & Training Range. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Anderson, was killed. The aircraft suffered a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
17 Dec 1987 [w/o] 83067 83-1067 USAF 612 TFS F-16A Block 15Q Details
Crashed east of Madrid (Pastrana), Spain. The pilot ejected safely. The shaft through the fuel pump separated and consequently fuel wasn't getting to the engine which caused it to stop. The plane pancaked into the ground.
21 May 1992 [w/o] 83071 83-1071 USAF 704 FS F-16A Block 15Q Details
Pilot ejected safely from his crashing aircraft while on a training mission. The aircraft came down in the Stony Military Operating Area, 250 miles from Anchorage, Alaska. The aircraft was on deployment from its home base of Bergstrom AFB, Texas.
17 Dec 1992 [w/o] 83078 83-1078 USAF 704 FS F-16A Block 15Q Details
Ingested a bird while en route to a range from Bergstrom AFB, Texas. Pilot pulled up to gain altitude, but wingman said to eject when he saw fire in the engine. Pilot ejected safely.
17 Nov 1989 [w/o] 83082 83-1082 USAF 308 TFS F-16A Block 15Q Details
Destroyed near Homestead AFB, Florida
27 Feb 1986 [w/o] 83086 83-1086 USAF 306 TFS F-16A Block 15Q Details
Engine failed over the Avon Range. Aircraft was low altitude and speeds greater than Mach so pilot pulled back on stick to gain altitude. After several unsuccessful attempts to re-light the engine, the pilot was forced to eject. It is suspected, not confirmed, that the aircraft ingested a bird. The remains of the aircraft were returned to base for investigation.
15 Jan 1990 [w/o] 83089 83-1089 USAF 308 TFS F-16A Block 15R Details
Crashed near Homestead AFB, Florida. The aircraft was lost due to a burn-through in the engine and airframe. The pilot ejected when ATC personal saw a fire plume coming from the side of the aircraft. It was later determined that during a flame holder assembly change, a maintenance rag was left in the afterburner section causing a hot spot. The airforce F-16 units then began counting rags taken out on a daily basis. The aircraft was viewed with the vertical stabilizer above the water as it crashed in shallow water at the end of the runway.
19 Feb 1993 [w/o] 83102 83-1102 USAF 182 FS F-16A Block 15R Details
Aircraft crashed on McMullen range (Yankee/Dixie) near Tilden, TX. The aircraft crashed after the 4th pass on the bomb circle dropping BDU-33's. After the 3rd stage compressor let fly, this caused a massive fire/explosion and failure of the tail. The aircraft departed controlled flight at 1,000 AGL and pilot ejected safely 70 miles south of San Antonio, TX. This jet had only a centerline bag and it stayed on. The pilot was cleared by the accident board and flew successfully for 2 1/2 years after the incident and was promoted
22 Mar 1987 [w/o] 83115 83-1115 USAF 13 TFS F-16A Block 15S Details
Pilot Captain Larry D. Oswitz ejected safely and the aircraft hit the water near Hashinoe, Japan. Cause of crash was failure of the high pressure turbine. The crash happened while the 432nd TFW was converting to the F-16C/D. As aircraft 85-1432 had been marked 432 TFW aircraft 83-1115 had it's Wing King markings removed to prevent any confusing between the two aircraft. The tail was salvaged from the ocean and later used for BDR training.
04 Jan 1989 [w/o] 83116 83-1116 USAF 308 TFS F-16A Block 15S News Article Details
Impacted the ground by Lake Okeechobee near Avon Park range. The pilot, Lt. Mark Pugh ejected safely. It was being flown on a surface attack/tactics mission and he was number four in the formation. While egressing the target area at 515 knots his canopy struck an approximately 8-pound turkey buzzard directly in front of the HUD. The bird's remains penetrated the canopy (this was the first USAF penetration of an F-16 canopy) and hit Pugsly in the chest knocking his left hand onto the ejection handle and his right arm off the sidestick back against the bulkhead. He could only see a small gap near his left hand on the ejection handle which seemed like a good idea so he ejected. The airplane continued and crashed off-range killing a cow. Pugsly's injuries were confined to bruises and lacerations from the canopy plexiglass. He flew again in several weeks and continued as an F-16 LANTIRN and F-15E RTU Instructor Pilot.
27 Apr 1985 [w/o] 83117 83-1117 USAF 19 TFS F-16A Block 15S Details
Hit the ground near Fort Campbell, Kentucky killing Captain Ed Johnson.
31 Oct 1990 [act] 83123 83-1123 USAF 3247 TS F-16C Block 25 Details
Suffered a structural failure during a flight test (flutter tests) from Eglin AFB, Florida. The test was to assess the structural integrity of the F-16 while carrying a load of 6 AMRAAM's. The aircraft was flying inverted at 2,000 feet above the Gulf of Mexico with an airspeed of Mach 1.2. The pilot noticed a serious problem with the aircraft and rolled it back to level flight, but experienced a very hard time to keep it levelled. The left flaperon was sticking up like a sharp fin in the airflow and rudder was also missing from the aircraft. The pilot, Captain Joseph A. Lanni, gained control of the aircraft and checked its controllability. Captain Lanni brought the aircraft back to Eglin AFB with no further problems, mainly because he was already lined up with the runway and the fact that the chase-plane (F-4) pilot kept telling him to stick with it. The pilot had to keep 25 lbs of constant pressure to the stick to keep the aircraft straight. The aircraft was repaired afterwards. Maintainers believe the rudder imploded from delamination since they never found a piece of it anywhere. The jet tried to kill the same pilot 3 more times after this event - 2 sudden decompressions at altitude and when the right flaperon did the same thing, only this time tore off and smashed into the stabilator. The pilot put it down at Tyndall AB every time.
10 Jan 2002 [w/o] 83133 83-1133 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25A Details
Crashed in a heavily wooded area near a highway at Warren Grove Weapons Training Range, New Jersey. Major Robert G. McNally ejected safely.
29 Jan 1997 [w/o] 83134 83-1134 USAF 61 FS F-16C Block 25A Details
The aircraft crashed on the Barry M. Goldwater range near Gila Bend, Arizona. The pilot ejected safely.
31 Aug 2000 [w/o] 83138 83-1138 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25A News Article Details
Pilot ejected safely at 1,700 feet over the Atlantic one mile off the coast of Brigantine, New Jersey. The aircraft had engine problems at 15:40 hours, while on a flight of four aircraft. The pilot was picked up by a police boat and transferred to a Coast Guard ship. At 16,000 feet the pilot felt vibrations and immediate deceleration. The cause was a failure and subsequent liberation of a turbine blade from the 3rd stage of the turbine section resulting in damage to the oil system.

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Abbreviations and symbols:
[act] Active [msh] Involved in Mishap [w/o] Write-off
[cld] Cancelled Order [o/o] On Order
[des] Destroyed (drone) [pre] Preserved (museum, gateguard) T/V LM Aero Type/Version (Construction) number
[emb] Embargoed [scr] Scrapped Photo Available
[i/a] Instructional Airframe [sto] Stored (e.g. at AMARG)



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