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F-16 Aircraft Database

F-16 Accident Reports for 1979

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Found 2 aircraft, displaying termsofuse.html- 2 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
09 Aug 1979 [ w/o] 78078 78- 0078 USAF 57 FWW F-16B Block 1 Details
F-16 write-off number one. The aircraft was written off in a crash while on approach to Hill AFB, Utah. The pilot at the controls was a Belgian pilot on the OT&E team. The pilot had refueled and forgot to close the aerial refueling door. Therefore, he could not get gas from his external tanks, which were de-pressurized for the refueling. Worse, the B-model lowered flaps when refueling to provide increased clearance between the boom and the canopy. So he couldn't get external fuel (had two big external tanks) and if he slowed down the flaps extended. He had plenty of internal gas originally, but apparently failed to monitor the actual amount of internal fuel and suddenly the 'low fuel' light came on! His 'total' fuel was way up, but all the gas in the external tanks was unusable due to no pressurization. He had to manually select the tanks of interest, otherwise what you saw on the gauge was 'total' fuel. The pilot tries for Hill AFB and slows to best range speed, slow enough for the trailing flaps to come down and increasing drag/fuel consumption. The F-16 flames out on downwind and the pilot tries for a deadstick landing, unfortunately he couldn't make it and punches out really low. The now pilot-less plane actually made it to the runway overrun and pancakes but was a total lost.
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.



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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