F-16 Aircraft Database

Crashed at Diyarbakir, Turkey. Engine exploaded after refuelling. The pilot, Capt. Strom, tried to reach the air base, but when he realised he could not make it he ejected safely and was rescued.

Probably an SA-8 exploded near the left external tank area. Fragments from the SAM hit the lower left side of the intake, including right through the intake. The left wing had a 2x3 inch hole and the main wing root had damage underneith. Stabilizers were peppered as well as the exhaust tail feathers. Part of the radome was also sheared off, but that damage was done during the crash landing at Rafha, Saudi Arabia when the nose gear would not extend. Major Ed 'Spot' Schumacher was a pilot who was visiting from the Fighter Weapons School and had deployed to Desert Storm with the 4th TFS. The aircraft returned to Hill AFB in a crate from Dahrain AB.

Shot down during Desert Storm by SAM. The pilot, Capt. William Andrews, ejected and became a POW, but was released eight days later after the end of the war. The F-16 was hit by a SA-16 when flying a low-level sortie. Awarded the Air Force Cross for preventing missile shooters from getting a wingman. A UH-60A (78-23015) was shot down trying to rescue the F-16 pilot. Five of its crew died while three where taken prisoner. The aircraft carried nose art at the time applied for the war. Art was a blond woman in a white bikini lying sideways on the right side of the aircraft below the canopy. Before the aircraft was destroyed it flew 43 combat missions.

The aircraft went down in the North Sea about 130 nautical miles north west of Texel, Netherlands. The aircraft was on a sortie from RAF Coningsby. The pilot, 1st Lieutenant Ed W. Gelens, was killed in the incident.

Crashed in southwest Asia. The pilot, Captain Leonard S. Dick, ejected and was rescued. It was a postwar loss. The aircraft suffered a complete electrical fall-out getting out of control.

During a BFM exercise the aircraft departed controlled flight at 8:40 hours and crashed roughly 22 miles southeast of Sells, Arizona. The pilot ejected succesfully.

Crashed into Atlantic Ocean 50 miles south east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The pilot, Major Robert Dean Ashenfelter, is missing and presumed dead. The flight was a training mission with three other F-16s.

Crashed during training sortie with the pilot, Captain William C. McGowan, ejected safely. The aircraft crashed 18 miles south east of Moody AFB (Haylow), Georgia.

Nose tire blew during takeoff causing the aircraft to depart the runway at Al Kharj AB, Saudi Arabia around 9:00 local. The right drop tank hit a runway light. The pilot, Major Androski, ejected safely after the aircraft started to leave the runway, but the aircraft burned up. Mission was intended to be a CAP mission in support of ODS.

Lost due to bird strike of a turkey vulture near Fort Smith, Arkansas

Crashed because of an engine failure. The engine went to SEC mode during a ground attack training and the pilot consequently declared an emergency and tried to return to the base. Unfurtunately, 400 to 500 feet from the runway he had to eject. The pilot, Major Semih Birdogan, ejected safely.

Crashed in Leftwich park after the pilot ejected safely. The site of the crash was 4 miles north of Misawa, Japan. Witness Acount: "The load crew that I was on was doing a FOD walk in front of D-13 or D-15 HAS when it was taking off for a night sortie during an exercise. We noticed sparks coming out of the engine and it slowed down and turned towards lake Ogawara. The pilot then ejected. The aircraft crashed in Leftwich park and took out part of the soft ball field. We were told that the engine came apart." Ultimately it was determined that the main fuel pump valve failed. All F-16 were grounded for 2 weeks and adjustments to this system made.

Control was lost in a dive after an unrecoverable engine stall during air combat manoeuvres on a sortie from Decimomannu. The incident took place over the Mediterranean, 18 miles off the western coast of Sardinia, Italy. The pilot, Lt. Roef Dieters, ejected safely.

Cause of the crash was a fuel shut-off valve, which is a safety device in case of a fire. The aircraft was flying from Holloman AFB, New Mexico to Ellington Field, Texas. The pilot felt a vibration followed by a bang which stopped the engine at an altitude of only 3,000 feet. The pilot re-light the engine and the same thing happened again. At this point the pilot, Captain Kenneth J. Gurry, ejected, because the aircraft was descending through 800 feet of altitude. The ejection occurred near League City, Texas. The ejection seat was repaired and used for training, then placed in the Texas Military Forces Museum.