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F-16 Aircraft Database

F-16 Accident Reports for 1982

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Found 23 aircraft, displaying 1- 15 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
15 Jan 1982 [ w/o] 78048 78- 0048 USAF 4 TFS F-16A Block 5 Details
Impacted the ground east of the Nellis AFB, Nevada. The F-16 was part of a two-ship and both were coming from Hill AFB to bring spare parts. The unit was on a TDY to Nellis at the time of the mishap. 78-0048 landed first and the aircraft was on a normal landing approach. On touchdown the main landing gear collapsed. This was supposed to be impossible but it happened. Probable cause was that the gear was not fully down. The centerline fuel tank exploded on contact with the runway. The pilot selected full afterburner and managed to get the aircraft airborne again. The pilots logic would be that the entire ramp at Nellis was packed with aircraft and that he didn't want his disabled aircraft to slide off the runway and cause a major accident. The pilot climbed to approximately 500 feet, trailing about a 100 feet of flames, banked the aircraft left towards the desert, leveled out and ejected. There was a cheer from everyone who witnessed the accident when the pilots' chute opened. As an additional note: The Thunderbirds had been practicing just moments before the accident. Every practice is videotaped. They missed capturing the entire event on film by just a few moments. Also as a bit of irony: the spare parts were being carried by the aircraft that crashed.
19 Jan 1982 [ w/o] FA-14 78- 0129 BAF 350 sqn F-16A Block 1 Details
Collided with another Belgian F-16A (78-0150, FA-35) at 20,000 feet over Wavreille (near Rochefort) in Southern Belgium. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Nuyts, ejected safely. Steve was the leader of the Slivers aerobatic team which operated two F-104G Starfighters
19 Jan 1982 [ w/o] FA-35 78- 0150 BAF 350 sqn F-16A Block 10 A Details
Collided with another Belgian F-16A (78-0129, FA-14) near Wavreille (near Rochefort). The pilot of this aircraft, Captain Jean Marie Debaix was killed
20 Jan 1982 [ w/o] 266 80- 0650 IDFAF 253 sqn F-16A Block 10 C Details
Collided with F-16 (80-0657, 276). The pilot, Ilan Ramon, ejected safely
20 Jan 1982 [ w/o] 276 80- 0657 IDFAF 253 sqn F-16A Block 10 C Details
Collided with F-16 (80-0650, 266)
27 Jan 1982 [ w/o] 79318 79- 0318 USAF 16 TFTS F-16A Block 10 Details
Crashed into an unpopulated area Southwest of Luke AFB, Arizona. Cause of crash was flight control failure, pilot ejected safely.
11 Mar 1982 [ act] 78019 78- 0019 USAF 16 TFTS F-16A Block 1 Details
Ran off the runway at Salt Lake City International Airport caused by a main gen/CSD failure. Had extensive damage to the right wing and fuselage. The wing was replaced from a block 10 aircraft. An interesting note to this repair is that the fuselage was reassembled on wooden cradles, with no precision alignment. The misalignment was discovered when the boresight was accomplished after repair, the fuselage was "twisted" to the right approx .250" from the F.S. 189 bulkhead forward. The gun and HUD mounts had to be moved .250" to compensate. It actually turned out to be the 466th TFS's best bomber after that.
20 Mar 1982 [ act] 78044 78- 0044 USAF 34 TFS F-16A Block 5 Interview Details
In Lt. Col. Pat "Gums" McAdoo's words:

"I was the first Viper pilot to successfully land the thing with a failed leading edge flap. Was early spring/late winter 1982. Maybe 20 March, tail number 044, as that log entry shows 0.3 hours and a precision approach. Weather was not ll that keen. Have the HUD video in VHS format."

"Maintenance troops had failed to insert a 'keeper' bolt that is supposed to keep the flap drive tubes from slipping apart. It's like a cotter key on a bolt. The flap drive motor has a spline gear on it and the drive tube has gear teeth that match up. So the drive tube gradually slipped out from the motor spline gear. When I rotated, the drive tube slid all the way out and the leading edge flap went up until the wing upper surface stopped it. Maybe 50-60 degrees. Another troop had his fail a few months later and the flap went to 90 degrees because he was going a lot faster when the drive tube failed. So I was at 160 knots and holding full left stick. Post-flight data revealed that I had about one pound of control authority for banking left. So I was holding 15-16 pounds of left stick the whole time. "

"I stayed at 170-180 knots, as I could still maintain control and wasn't gonna play Chuck Yeager more than I had to. Nevertheless, I was the first troop to fly the thing in that configuration, so everything was new territory. Bunted over to get opposite flap 2 degrees up and locked the flaps( LEF's go up when bunting over, or when weight is on wheels). I now had both LEF's up, and it seemed to help with the roll authority. Additionally, that other flap wasn't gonna be moving all over the place, and this kept things a little more predictable. "

"Came around on the ILS and landed in one helluva crab. The drag was so great that I almost landed short when I pulled off the power. As I was coming in a lot hotter than normal, I thought I would land long. heh heh, sucker dropped like a rock and I was able to make a mid-field turn off."

Exact date of this mishap is not known, but did happen in 1982.
23 Mar 1982 [ w/o] 78112 78- 0112 USAF 4485 TS F-16B Block 5 Details
Crashed near Eglin AFB, Florida due to an engine failure.
12 Apr 1982 [ w/o] 78016 78- 0016 USAF 16 TFTS F-16A Block 1 Details
Flew into the ground at Dugway range, Utah at Michael AAF. Aircraft lost control during an attempted emergency landing. Pilot was able to eject safely. It was then put in the dump at Hahn Air Base. Later used for ABDR.
29 Apr 1982 [ act] J-238 78- 0238 RNlAF TCA F-16A Block 10 Details
The aircraft skidded off the runway and landed on its left-hand side. The pilot ejected before the ditch, but the nose section was seriously damaged.
04 May 1982 [ w/o] 79390 79- 0390 USAF 429 TFS F-16A Block 10 B Details
Crashed near Beccles, England due to main fuel pump failure. The aircraft had just undergone major maintanence and was being flown for a maintanence test flight. The pilot ejected safely. The damaged canopy from this aircraft was noted on display is at the Bentwaters Cold War Museum in Suffolk, England.
11 May 1982 [ w/o] 78067 78- 0067 USAF 388 TFW F-16A Block 5 Details
Impacted the ground at Great Salt Lake, Utah. A birdstrike caused the radom to shred and the F-16 to loose control.
20 May 1982 [ w/o] 79301 79- 0301 USAF 421 TFS F-16A Block 10 Details
Hit the ground at Great Salt Lake, Utah killing Major Richard Olson. The F-16 suffered a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) while in autopilot.
20 May 1982 [ w/o] 79374 79- 0374 USAF 428 TFS F-16A Block 10 A Details
Crashed on the Dugway range, Utah. During an exercises it suffered a main generator failure. After a sucessful airstart and while enroute to NAS China Lake for an emergency landing an intermittant flame was observed coming from the tailpipe. Upon hearing a loud bang and feeling a reduction of thrust, the pilot successfully ejected.

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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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