Home | Forum | RSS | Submit News | Upload photos | Contact Us | Search
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 451 aircraft, displaying system-8 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
08 May 1975 [i/a] 01568 72-1568 YF-16 Article Details
Belly landed on a grass area next to the runway at Carswell AFB, Texas. The right main landing gear jammed due to gyroscopic forces from right max-rate roll while the gear was being retracted. The aircraft was only slightly damaged (inlet duct buckling, FS227 bulkhead cracks, etc.). It was scheduled to appear at the Paris air show but due to the mishap the first prototype was sent.
Jan 1981 [act] 75745 75-0745 F-16A Details
Dead stick landing but was repaired.
Oct 1980 [act] 75747 75-0747 F-16A Details
The aircraft crash landed on Rogers dry lake bed at Edwards AFB due to a blown nose gear tire on take off during the annual open house air show. It was shipped to General Dynamics Fort Worth in a C-5 and rebuilt into the first F-16XL, flying back to Edwards one year later on December 2nd, 1981. The pilot survived unharmed but very shaken.
Unknown [act] 78001 78-0001 USAF 34 TFS F-16A Block 1 Details
Suffered a mishap on landing. The nose gear would not come down. The pilot tried everything to get it down, no luck. It was decided he would land on the runway and keep his nose up as long as he could. There was some concern the external wing tanks would drag so of course the crash trucks were there in case of fire. The pilot brought the plane in very slowly and landed on the mains, kept the nose up and almost came to a stop before the nose dropped. The radome was of course scraped up, the ring around the intake and the lower tacan antenna was gone. The wing tanks were about 5-6 inches from the ground. It was found out the seals in the nose gear were almost totally deteriorated. It was the original nose gear from the factory. Everything that was damaged was replaced and the plane was flying three days later. Anyone who knows the exact date, please let us know.
Nov 1989 [i/a] 78002 78-0002 USAF 310 TFTS F-16A Block 1 Details
Engine turbine failed during a take-off roll sending pieces of the turbine blades through the fuel cell. Pilot aborted take off after seeing the fire light and shut down the engine. After the pilot opened the canopy and jumped out found the entire tail of the F-16 on fire. The aircraft was sent to depot but was never repaired.
11 Feb 1985 [w/o] 78004 78-0004 USAF 310 TFTS F-16A Block 1 Details
Destroyed near Luke AFB, Arizona at Gila Bend Auxillary Air Field due to an engine failure. Pilot ejected safely.
01 Oct 1979 [w/o] 78006 78-0006 USAF 16 TFTS F-16A Block 1 Details
Crashed in Nevada due to an engine problem. An MOT&E aircraft piloted by Paul R. was lost as it ran out of flight control authority. The pilot was simply rocking the wings at low altitiude to acknowledge an F-15 simulated attack over Nellis range. The flight control limitations were not fully known or understood by engineers and pilots in those early days, and the triple ejection racks (TERs) loaded on stations 3 & 7 disrupted airflow over the wings causing loss of control at low altitude. Paul ejected successfully and due to his zoomie training at the academy and was able to steer himself clear of the fireball without injury.
24 Jan 1991 [w/o] 78009 78-0009 USAF 184 TFG F-16A Block 1 Details
Collided with F-16A (80-0536), near Beaumont, Kansas. One of the pilots, Major Cary Carlin, was killed.
06 Apr 1981 [i/a] 78013 78-0013 USAF 34 TFS F-16A Block 1 Details
Crashed at Holloman AFB, New Mexico due to fuel starvation. After being written-off, it was transferred to Lowry TTC as a GF-16A

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 – 20 – 21 – 22 – 23 – 24 – 25 – 26 – 27 – 28 – 29 – 30 – 31 – 32 – 33 – 34 – 35 – 36 – 37 – 38 – 39 – 40 – 41 – 42 – 43 – 44 – 45 – 46 – 47 – 48 – 49 – 50 – 51 – Next – Last



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)



Any aircraft or serials missing from this list? Did you see incorrect, incomplete, or outdated data?
Add your corrections at the bottom of this page or send them to us!
[Back to the F-16 Aircraft Database]


Errors and Omissions
Errors and omissions in the above text can be added here. Please note: your comments will be displayed immediately on this page.

If you wish to send a private comment to the webmasters, please use the Contact Us link.


RSS | Legal Terms | Privacy Policy | Advertise
Copyright © 2012 F-16.net