F-16 Reference

F-16 Aircraft Database

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

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Found 523 aircraft, displaying 151- 165 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
15 Jan 1991 [ w/o] 83089 83- 1089 USAF 308 TFS F-16A Block 15 R Details
Crashed 19 miles off Homestead AFB, Florida at 15:00 hours. The aircraft was lost due to a burn-through in the engine and airframe. The pilot, Captain Charles Q. Brown, 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 15 R 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 15 S Details
Pilot Captain Larry C. Owsowitz ejected safely and the aircraft hit the water 30 nm East of Hachinohe, Japan. Cause of crash was failure of the high pressure turbine.

"The cause of the crash was a failure of a spacer between the 13th stage rotor and stator at military power. The 13th stage rotor subsequently failed and punctured the engine case in several places. I attempted 3 restarts that were unsuccessful for obvious reasons." - Larry C. Owsowitz, Lt.Col. (ret)

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 15 S 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 15 S 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 25 A 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 25 A Details
The aircraft crashed on the Barry M. Goldwater range 2.5 miles from Gila Bend, Arizona after suffering a bird strike. The pilot, Capt. Robert Churchill, ejected safely at 15:10 hours.
31 Aug 2000 [ w/o] 83138 83- 1138 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25 A News Article Details
The pilot, Major David G. Haar, 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.
01 Sep 1992 [ w/o] 83139 83- 1139 USAF 314 FS F-16C Block 25 A Details
Crashed onto the Barry M. Goldwater range, Arizona. Aircraft experienced an engine failure due to FOD while participating in an ACM IUT sortie. The aircraft was flown by Capt. Eddie "Lizzard" Moran USMC, an F/A-18 pilot on exchange to the USAF. The engine had just been reinstalled in the airframe after returning from a civilian contractor located in Texas. This was the second flight after the installation. The first flight was flown by a student on an instrument training sortie. A tool was left inside the shroud that protects the levers that control the variable compressor blades.
15 May 2007 [ act] 83148 83- 1148 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25 B AIB Report Details
Released some flares during an exercise. The flares were deployed below the minimum AGL and started a fire on the test range which eventually consumed up to 18,000 acres and destroying four houses.
25 Jul 1987 [ w/o] 83149 83- 1149 USAF 33 TFS F-16C Block 25 B Details
Crashed somewhere in Jordan.
03 Sep 1990 [ w/o] 83151 83- 1151 USAF 33 TFS F-16C Block 25 B Details
Wingman observed fire coming out of engine during a training sortie. The pilot, Capt. Richard Setzer, was forced to eject. The pilot safely ejected over the Saudi Arabian Peninsula (Abu Dhabi). It was a pre-war loss and wreckage was recovered in attempt to find spare parts, but "none" were usable.
20 Apr 2005 [ act] 83159 83- 1159 USAF 134 FS F-16C Block 25 B News Article Details
Came in to low for landing and struck some runway lights which caused the main landing gear to collapse. Colonel Douglas Fick stayed with the aircraft and was uninjured. The landing happened in severe weather conditions which made the pilot to abort two consequent landing attempts. Trying for a third attempt, he came in too low.
17 Jun 2004 [ act] 83161 83- 1161 USAF 61 FS F-16C Block 25 B News Article Details
Belly landed at Luke AFB. Extremely minor damage, repaired quickly. Extensive story: TheAviationGeekClub

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Abbreviations and symbols:
[act] Active [i/a] Instructional Airframe [sto] Stored (e.g. at AMARG)
[cld] Cancelled Order [msh] Involved in Mishap [w/o] Write-off
[con] Converted [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
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Errors and Omissions

Mar 04, 2022 - 09:51 AM
F-16 CRASH

I couldn't find the Edwards AFB crash of 2001 in this list. I was trying to find what tail number it was.


Mar 04, 2024 - 06:45 AM
Jan 82

Some time in the 80s a f16 landing at nellis missed the the arresting Hook and went thru the barrier at end of runway and came to rest in 3 pieces on the golf course

Pilot was cut out of cockpit and walked away





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