F-16 Fighting Falcon News

January 12, 1999 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Air Combat Command released the Aircraft Accident Investigation Report Jan. 12 on the Sept. 12 F-16D crash near Avon Park, Fla.
The aircraft was from the 93rd Fighter Squadron at the 482nd Fighter Wing, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla.

Capt. Thomas M. Carr died and the aircraft was destroyed. At the time of the accident, Carr was part of a four-ship formation flying a Surface Attack Tactics training mission. The mission involved dropping simulated ordnance on a target in a short amount of time to minimize exposure to enemy threats.

The report concluded the accident was caused by a combination of errors made by the pilot. During the attack, Carr did not maintain the proper distance from the aircraft flying the pattern in front of him and lost visual contact with the aircraft sometime before or during his attack sequence.

As Carr left the target area, his F-16 came into close proximity with the aircraft he was following. Upon regaining visual contact with this aircraft, Carr executed an abrupt maneuver to avoid a collision. Because Carr's aircraft was at a low altitude, this maneuver placed his aircraft in a position where recovery was impossible and impact with the ground could not be avoided.