F-16 Aircraft Database

Belly landed on a grass area next to the runway at Carswell AFB, Texas. The right main landing gear jammed due to gyroscopic forces from right max-rate roll while the gear was being retracted. The aircraft was only slightly damaged (inlet duct buckling, FS227 bulkhead cracks, etc.). It was scheduled to appear at the Paris air show but due to the mishap the first prototype was sent.

F-16 write-off number one. The aircraft was written off in a crash while on approach to Hill AFB, Utah. The pilot at the controls was a Belgian pilot on the OT&E team. The pilot had refueled and forgot to close the aerial refueling door. Therefore, he could not get gas from his external tanks, which were de-pressurized for the refueling. Worse, the B-model lowered flaps when refueling to provide increased clearance between the boom and the canopy. So he couldn't get external fuel (had two big external tanks) and if he slowed down the flaps extended. He had plenty of internal gas originally, but apparently failed to monitor the actual amount of internal fuel and suddenly the 'low fuel' light came on! His 'total' fuel was way up, but all the gas in the external tanks was unusable due to no pressurization. He had to manually select the tanks of interest, otherwise what you saw on the gauge was 'total' fuel. The pilot tries for Hill AFB and slows to best range speed, slow enough for the trailing flaps to come down and increasing drag/fuel consumption. The F-16 flames out on downwind and the pilot tries for a deadstick landing, unfortunately he couldn't make it and punches out really low. The now pilot-less plane actually made it to the runway overrun and pancakes but was a total lost.

Crashed in Nevada due to an engine problem. 78-0002 and 78-0006 were coming from Hill AFB to bring spare parts. The unit was on a TDY to Nellis at the time of the mishap. 78-0002 landed first and 78-0006 was second in line. 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.

Destroyed in a fire due to an engine failure that sent some turbine parts through the main fuel cells. The pilot, who's last name as Bell, was from the Operational, Test & Evaluation squadron but using 388th TFW aircraft ejected safely after trying to restart the engine. The fact that the aircraft did not blow up was a relief to some early pilots as they were not convinced that the new designed fuel cells would preform as advertised. The fuel cells are sealed partitions in the fuselage. However, the major concern was about the fly by wire flight control system and what happened if the power was totally lost if the flight controls went "stupid". It was well understood that loss of flight controls could cause 20 Gs in less than a quarter of a second. Pilot DW Bells ejected safely.

The aircraft was lost in a yellow flag exercise caused by fuel starvation. The pilot bailed out at approximately 300 ft when a flame-out approach to a dirt road didn't turn out to be the best solution.

Impacted the ground on the Eagle range, Utah. Crew ejected safely.

The aircraft crash landed on Rogers dry lake bed at Edwards AFB due to a blown nose gear tire on take off during the annual open house air show. It was shipped to General Dynamics Fort Worth in a C-5 and rebuilt into the first F-16XL, flying back to Edwards one year later on December 2nd, 1981. The pilot survived unharmed but very shaken.

Destroyed when it hit the ground at Avon Park range, Florida.

Ran off the runway at Salt Lake City International Airport in/about 1981. 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. Anyone know the exact date of this mishap or more information please let us know.

Dead stick landing but was repaired.

Went down over the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The crash was caused by a fuel pump failure. The aircraft was recovered but damage was extensive to the cockpit area. The aircraft remains were brought back to MacDill AFB and stored in a hanger Everything was removed forward of the intake and it was used as a maintainace trainer for a while.

Crashed at Holloman AFB, New Mexico due to fuel starvation. After being written-off, it was transferred to Lowry TTC as a GF-16A

At 1:09 local time the main generator warning light came on and the EPU started. The pilot Major John Cary who was part of a four ship flight advised of his emergency and tried to make it to Buckley ANGB. After flying in for five minutes on the EPU, that failed and flight controls were lost. Major Cary ejected at 1000 feet with a 90 degree nose down near Elizabeth, Colorado. Injuries were sore neck, chipped tooth and swollen eye which resulted in temporary blindness. This was caused by the high negative G's the aircraft pulled (-6G during a pitch down). The reason for the failure was due to an EPU overspeed which caused an over voltage to the flight control computer causing it to shut down.

Went down in Great Salt Lake , Utah.

Crashed in the Utah Test & Training Range, killing the pilot, Captain J. Edgington Moats. All USAF F-16's were grounded two days later. It was the F-16's second grounding. Cause of accident was a malfunctioning bleed air valve which allowed bleed air to leak out onto the EPU, causing an electrical surge that shut down the flight control computer