F-16 Aircraft Database

The aircraft struck a landing light tower during night operations at Hahn AB, Germany. Aircraft was low in the rain at night and was forty feet short of the threshold for the runway. The left MLG was sheared off. It skidded to a stop on the runway and the pilot ground egressed without injury. It was repaired at Hahn and returned to service.

Crashed near Madrid, Spain. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel David F. Shontz, was unfortunately killed in the mishap.

Crashed following an engine failure near Volkel AB (Haaksbergen). The pilot managed to eject safely

Pilot, Lieutenant N. B. Jørgensen had to land gear up at Skrydstrup AB when the left landing gear indicated unsafe. The aircraft was landed on the empty belly tank on the main runway so smoothly that the aircraft only had small scrathes on the left sidewinder rail. For this, lieutenant Jørgensen received a letter from the Danish minister of defence congratulating his performance. The aircraft was easily repaired and back to flying duties in only 30 days.

Destroyed on the Barry M. Goldwater range, Arizona. Major Willy Kempe was killed in this accident.

Ran out of fuel in afterburner while trying to burn off excess fuel for landing after a training mission. Apparently the external fuel tanks won't feed with the afterburner running and the speed brakes deployed. The pilot, Ltc Levis Deweese, was forced to eject from the aircraft as he lacked sufficient altitude to attempt a relight.

The aircraft crashed near Hindøya Island, during a NATO exercise. The pilot, Geir Kveisengen, was unfortunately killed in the crash. He suffered a G-induced loss of conciousness after a merge and his flightlead saw him slowly dipping over and cruise into the ground after the merge.

Flew into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The aircraft crashed on a night practice intercept sortie over the Gulf. The pilot was Capt. Ronald Speidel (a German Air Force exchange-pilot) who just joined the 61st TFTS at Mac Dill AFB

Crashed into a house in Forst, Germany. The pilot, First Lieutenant Tom E. Doyle, was killed along with one civilian on the ground. The pilot stayed with the aircraft to avoid hitting the center of the town. Unfortunately, he could not avoid a house on the outskirts of the town, killing himself and the brother of the local 'Bergermeister'. The local citizens concider the pilot a hero for this action.

Hit the ground in Erzberg, Germany near the town of Hermeskeil. The pilot ejected safely. The event was noticed in some over-regional pers with comments like "aircraft struck into free field but missed an Army Ammo-Depot 200 meters and the Hermeskeil hospital 600 meters."

Destroyed on the Leach Lake range, California

Crashed near Goose Bay, Newfoundland. The pilot, Captain Bob Verkroost, was able to eject safely. The pilot was on a low level training flight. Captain Verkroost later ejected from J-359 on September 23, 1992.

Lt. Commander Sam Carter was landing at Jacksonville IAP, Florida when two pigs ran across the runway in front of him. The pigs severed the left main landing gear and the pilot ejected, causing $487,000 in damage. 900 parts were replaced including all landing gear, speed brakes, horizontal stabilizers, the nose, canopy and most of the cockpit instrumentation. The jet flew again for the first time on 14 May 1989 with Lt. Commander Carter again at the controls. Shortly after the aircraft was fixed it was sent for ADF conversion.

Crashed near Merxzell-Burbach, Germany. It was the third crash in one day on German soil, and it stopped low level flying in that country from December onwards. The pilot ejected safely. The cause was determined as a failure of the no. 5 engine bearing. The aircraft was temporarily stationed at Baden-Baden AFB.