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 181- 195 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
Unknown [ act] 84246 84- 1246 USAF 17 TFS F-16C Block 25 C Details
Ingested a bird that caused engine failure sometime during 1988. Went off the runway. Nose gear broke and intake ploughed through soil. Aircraft was repaired, but never did go to combat as it didn't fly as well after this mishap.
13 Sep 1988 [ w/o] 84249 84- 1249 USAF 17 TFS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Hit the ground near Sumter, South Carolina. The crash killed the man who owned the house that the jet hit
21 Dec 1995 [ w/o] 84250 84- 1250 USAF 62 FS F-16C Block 25 D Details
The F-16 crashed at 10:20 hours after engine failure. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph A. Abbott, ejected safely. The mishap took place on routine training mission about 12 miles southwest of Winslow, Arizona. Abbott was on temporary duty from Cannon AFB, New Mexico to Luke AFB.
20 Jun 1997 [ w/o] 84255 84- 1255 USAF 194 FS F-16C Block 25 D Details
California ANG F-16 crash near the Saline Valley, California. The pilot, Lt Steven R. Jennings, ejected but dislocated his elbow. A short time after the crash the pilot was picked up by a NAWC China Lake HH-1N. Pilot probably experienced a short G-LOC and regained conscienous just in time to eject before impacting the ground around 14:00 hours.
09 Oct 1986 [ w/o] 84259 84- 1259 USAF 17 TFS F-16C Block 25 D Details
The pilot, 1st Lieutenant Ralph Cyr, tried to land in bad foggy weather during night at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. The aircraft impacted some pine trees not far from Shaw AFB, avoiding a trailer park. The pilot mistakenly saw street lights for the runway lights and was able to light the afterburner to avoid an impact in the trailer park but was already to low to avoid a crash. The lieutenant was killed in the accident.
18 Dec 1989 [ w/o] 84263 84- 1263 USAF 496 TFS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Collided with F-16C (#84-1293) over Maxdorf, Germany. One pilot, First Lieutenant Steve 'Sunny' Sundstrom (in 84-1293) died, the other pilot, Major Rodd Kallman ejected safely. Both were engaging F-15s in BFM when in their final engagement they 'bellied' each other trying to pursuit the same F-15. Lack of situational awareness was the cause of this collision. Both aircraft crashed around 16:12 hours. Lt. Sundstrom did eject, but the heavily shaking aircraft made the seat also to be heavily moving and getting entangled with the chute lines, which prevented it from deploying. The pilot wasn't able to disentangle himself before impact.
13 Jan 1992 [ w/o] 84267 84- 1267 USAF 127 TFTS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Was returning from a practice firing sortie of a M61A1 20mm cannon, and in the process of beginning touch-and-goes. Major David Ternes of the 127th FS was bringing the aircraft into McConnell AFB when he experienced trouble at 11:06 hours. Ternes was forced to eject at 150 feet and two miles from base. The aircraft tore through a house nearly hitting the sole occupant. Both people survived uninjured. Cause was a lack of engine response.
01 Jul 1999 [ w/o] 84268 84- 1268 USAF 93 FS F-16C Block 25 D News Article Details
Major Samuel D'Angelo was killed when his F-16 impacted the ground near Sebring, Florida on the outskirts of the Avon Park Bombing Range. The aircraft was on a low-level training mission. The accident occurred at 11:36 hours. It is believed based on evidence that cause was a bird strike to the canopy and pilot.
10 Oct 1987 [ w/o] 84270 84- 1270 USAF 19 TFS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Flew into the waters in the Black Sea
14 Mar 2008 [ w/o] 84273 84- 1273 USAF 62 FS F-16C Block 25 D News Article Details
Lost at 12.17h local time just south of Alamo Lake, Arizona. The aircraft was on a two ship air-to-air student training mission at the time. Sadly the pilot, Second Lieutenant David J. Mitchell of the 112th FS did not survive. He had 237 flight hours of which 26 were in the Viper. Mitchell would have graduated Initial Pilot Training in June of 2008.
16 Sep 1997 [ act] 84276 84- 1276 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Collided with F-16D (#84-1320). Damage was to the left wing, horizontal stabiliser, fuselage, canopy and engine. Estimated at 1.15 million in damage and was repaired.
04 Feb 2014 [ sto] 84277 84- 1277 USAF 62 FS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Aircrew was practicing low approaches and impacted landing approach lights. Suffered some damage to the landing gear, the leading edge flaps, right stabiliser and centerline tank. Thought to be repairable, the aircraft failed a canopy sill longeron Inspection which oddly enough was not related to the mishap event. Both the left and right canopy sill longerons were cracked severely the aircraft was shipped it to AMARG.
19 Jan 2007 [ w/o] 84279 84- 1279 USAF 194 FS F-16C Block 25 D News Article Details
The aircraft crashed near Owens Lake in remote eastern California. The pilot ejected safely and was not hurt. An engine failure caused the pilot to bail out during a training exercise.
16 Sep 1997 [ act] 84286 84- 1286 USAF 119 FS F-16C Block 25 D Details
Collided with F-16D (#84-1320), but made it home and was repaired
12 Oct 1988 [ i/a] 84289 84- 1289 USAF 496 TFS F-16C Block 25 E AIB Report Details
The pilot, Capt. David 'Dash' Wilmot, landed aircraft short of runway at Hahn AB, Germany after an engine failure. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway and the pilot was able to egress by lifting the canopy from the damaged canopy frame. Pictures show that the jet was destroyed and it broke after the canopy section. But it nevertheless was repaired with parts of 3 other airframes and serves as a static now.

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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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