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F-16 Aircraft Database

F-16 Accident Reports for 1983

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Found 23 aircraft, displaying rss.html- 14 [Sorted by Date]
Date Status Local S/N Aircraft AF/Unit Version Info Details
Unknown [ act] 80481 80- 0481 USAF 62 TFTS F-16A Block 10 C Details
Had a gear failure upon landing, but the aircraft was repaired.
12 Jan 1983 [ w/o] 80600 80- 0600 USAF FWS F-16A Block 15 B Details
Crashed almost vertically into the ground near Nellis AFB at 11:33 hours. Only small parts of wreckage remained. Captain Peter L. Jones was killed when he did not eject. The aircraft was on a sortie which involved air-to-air combat with one other F-16. They were just finishing their last manoeuvres when the crash occurred.
19 Jan 1983 [ w/o] 79386 79- 0386 USAF 34 TFS F-16A Block 10 B Details
Crashed in Great Salt Lake, Utah killing Lieutenant Colonel Bill George. The aircraft suffered a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
20 Jan 1983 [ w/o] 80617 80- 0617 USAF 313 TFS F-16A Block 15 B Details
Crashed three miles West of Sinsheim, Germany. The pilot ejected safely. The mishap was due to a 2-3 fan air seal knife-edge failure in the engine. The failure was uncontained and inflight fire resulted.
20 Jan 1983 [ w/o] 9204 80- 0647 EAF 232 TFB F-16B Block 15 A Details
Crashed killing both pilots. An engine failure at 20,000 feet above a military airport started a chain of events. The pilot was a trainee with the instructor in the back-seat. When the engine failed, the EPU fired as programmed providing electrical and hydraulic power to the aircraft. The pilot lined up on a 9,000 feet runway for landing. A USAF pilot was flying a chase and reported to the pilot that he was flying a little too high, although having ample runway ahead to land safely. At approximately 250 feet above the treshold, the pilot suddenly decided to land on the adjacent runway and banked more than 60° to intercept that runway. The aircraft stalled and both pilots ejected. At this point the aircraft was nearly vertical and both ejectionseats hit a tree, killing the pilots. Although an engine problem started the dramatic descent, pilot error was ultimately blamed for the tragic outcome.
31 Jan 1983 [ w/o] 283 78- 0283 RNoAF 331 skv F-16A Block 5 Details
Crashed in Tysfjord, Norway after it hit and cut two out of three power cables crossing the fjord. The two power cables that were hit were properly marked, while the remaining third power cable was unmarked. The aircraft was part of a flight of three RNoAF F-16s, but was lower and in front of his formation when it hit the power cables. A power cable hit just above the pitot tube, scraping up the radome and cutting of the canopy, the HUD and the top 50cm of the rudder. Needles to say, with the high position of the pilot, he was killed instantly. The plane continued forward in slight descending angle, hitting the tip of a perpendicular aligned mountain ridge spreading debris out between 2 and 5 km, with a lot ending up in the fjord. There where eye witnesses to the incident in a nearby village. During the next 3 days over 1 meter (3.5 feet) of snow fell in the area. Although the pilot was found and identified, the snow made it impossible to find more than just a few bits of the plane. It was spring before the area could be searched properly. It was later determined that the pilot was looking out to the side when his plane hit the power cables, so he never knew what happened. The crash was considered a pilot error. The pilot apparently had less than a week left of his mandatory service and had a job as an airline pilot lined up
10 Feb 1983 [ w/o] 80478 80- 0478 USAF 430 TFS F-16A Block 10 B Details
Crashed with the pilot, 1st Lieutenant Ronald L. Gray, being killed in the event.
19 Mar 1983 [ act] 81779 81- 0779 USAF 612 TFS F-16A Block 15 G Details
Belly landed at Torrejon AB, Spain when the pilot forgot to lower landing gear. Aircraft, which was on a delivery flight, landed on three external tanks. Damage was considered minimal but was damaged when the recovery crane dropped it from roughly 4 feet during recovery. Because of that the aircraft had to have a spar replaced so a CLSS team flew in from Hill AFB, Utah and fixed the aircraft within a week.
21 Mar 1983 [ w/o] J-225 78- 0225 RNlAF 322 sqn F-16A Block 5 Details
Crashed near Soltau, Germany after the pilot ejected safely
05 Apr 1983 [ w/o] E-175 78- 0175 RDAF Esk 730 F-16A Block 1 Details
Crashed near Fole, South Juttland. It was the first loss for the Danish. The aircraft crashed due to lightning strike. The pilot, 2nd lieutenant Kim Robert Juul, ejected safely. In about 2,000 feet the aircraft came down through a heavy rain cloud, when a lightning suddenly hit the starboard side of the radome. Almost every warning light came on and the pilot called out a MAYDAY to Skrydstrup Approach. The aircraft was flying normally until the hydraulic pressure started to go down to 1,000 PSI (normal pressure is 3,000 PSI), then suddenly the aircraft made a powerful pitch-up and since there were no response to the stick, the pilot ejected. The aircraft then made a full loop and came back inverted towards the pilot, who by now was hanging in his parachute, but luckily it went past him. On his way down he found out that he was going to land on a field were a horse was standing. Trying to steer clear of the field he almost made it when the dinghy, hanging on the line under the pilot, hit the horse on the back and the frightened animal ran away. After he landed on the field, he got up only to discover that the horse was coming back in a very bad mood. Jumping over the barbwire just minutes before the horse got to him 2nd lieutenant Juul then made his way to the nearest farm house and contacted the air base and within 20 minutes the SAR helicopter arrived.
26 Apr 1983 [ w/o] J-224 78- 0224 RNlAF 322 sqn F-16A Block 5 Details
Crashed together with its sistership F-16A (78-0227, J-227) near Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The pilot, 2nd Lieutenant B. Van Winkel, did not survive the impact. Both aircraft were performing a close-in dogfight in dusk conditions and suffered what is known as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).
26 Apr 1983 [ w/o] J-227 78- 0227 RNlAF 322 sqn F-16A Block 5 Details
Crashed together with its sistership F-16A (78-0224, J-224) near Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The pilot, Captain J.B. Huisman, did not survive the impact. Both aircraft were performing a close-in dogfight in dusk conditions and suffered what is known as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).
10 May 1983 [ w/o] FA-13 78- 0128 BAF 349 sqn F-16A Block 1 Details
Impacted the ground near Bierbeek, Belgium after the pilot, Captain Herman Devos, ejected safely
10 May 1983 [ w/o] 81664 81- 0664 USAF 10 TFS F-16A Block 15 C More Info Details
Aircraft was number two in a two-ship low-level training exercise. Towards the end of the exercise the number two aircraft was setting up to be the interceptor for a second time when the aircraft struck a fire house in Hornberg, Germany. The aircraft wreckage continued across the street and into the basement of a two story dwelling. Unfortunately First Lieutenant Steven L. Wallis was killed. Fortunately there were no casualties on the ground.
11 Jul 1983 [ w/o] 80627 80- 0627 USAF 63 TFTS F-16B Block 10 C Details
After an engine change, the reworked engine was ground tested. The aircraft jumped the chocks while in segment 2 afterburner. Maintainers failed to hook up the throtle linkage to the fuel control. Aircraft traveled across the ramp and onto soft ground where the gear was ripped off. The F-16's belly cut a 25 yard hole in the ground before coming to rest in a ditch. No injuries in this mishap.

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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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