F-16 crashes off coast of South Carolina

Shaw Air Force Base April 5, 2006 - An F-16 from Shaw Air Force Base crashed Wednesday about 30 miles off the coast of South Carolina.

The fighter jet crashed around 5:40pm. At the time of the accident, it was participating in a training mission. One person was on board.

Another F-16 was flying at the time. That pilot says he saw the airman eject from the crashing plane with a good chute.

Circling the scene, the pilot watched the airman hit the water.

At this point Shaw says they don't know whether the pilot survived, and that the Coast Guard is on the scene trying to rescue the airmen.

It's too early to tell why the plane crashed.

A board of officers will investigate the accident

Source: WISTV.com

Also see: http://www.f-16.net/news_article1734.html

Wednesday 5th April 2006 5:40 p.m. USAF F-16CJ ??? believed to be from 20th Fighter Wing Shaw Air Force Base On training mission from Shaw AFB. Crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, about 30 miles off the coast of South Carolina Pilot ejected using ACES II and rescued from the water around 7:35 p.m., about two hours after the crash

regards

Mike Bennett
Project Get Out and Walk
www.ejection-history.org.uk

Yeah, block 50. Thanks for letting us know that the pilot is alright!

Shaw Air Force Base - April 5, 2006 - The Coast Guard says the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet that crashed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean about 35 miles off Myrtle Beach has been found alive.

Petty Officer Bobby Nash says the pilot, Captain Ted Shultz with the 55th Fighter Squadron, was found about two hours after the crash. He appeared to be in stable condition.

Air Force Lieutenant Bryan Cox says the jet was on a training mission from Shaw Air Force Base when it went down around 5:40pm.

It's too early to tell why the plane crashed.

A board of officers will investigate the accident.

Updated 9:20pm by Chantelle Janelle

Source: WISTV.com

Dang.....3 writeoffs in 3 weeks. Looking like a safety stand down. Thank God nobody has been killed in the last 3, and in case we don't say it enough, God bless you people who hang it out there for us, and the people who support them in maintenance and egress.


Off topic a bit, but man....is it just me or is 2 hours sound like an awfully long time to be in the water 30 miles offshore in our own ocean with all the SAR assets we have on the east coast?

if this gets out, im sure the airforce will never let me PCS...ever. currently at Hill AFB, leaving for Kunsan with a follow-on to Shaw. its gotta be some bad ju-ju or something.

Dang.....3 writeoffs in 3 weeks. Looking like a safety stand down. Thank God nobody has been killed in the last 3, and in case we don't say it enough, God bless you people who hang it out there for us, and the people who support them in maintenance and egress.


Off topic a bit, but man....is it just me or is 2 hours sound like an awfully long time to be in the water 30 miles offshore in our own ocean with all the SAR assets we have on the east coast?

I can tell you now that 2 hours in the atlantic can result in hypothermia pretty easily. Just a couple weeks ago, at a college sailing regatta, we had a guy fall in about 1.5 miles off the coast of Virginia. He was in the water for about 45 minutes and spent the next couple of days in the hospital with hypothermia...

But yeah, 2 hours seems like a long time to me.

I'm wondering if he was lost or what exactly, I mean you'd imagine they'd have a pretty good fix on him if he was able to bail out......10-15 minutes to warm up the helos, it's only 30 miles out there. You'd figure his wingman would have CAP'd him.

Is there a raft in the seat?

Yeah, the kit has a one man raft, and he shoud have had a "poopy suit" on if the temp was low enough to warrant it.

Anyone has info on the serial? Obvious question from my part

Greets,

Rumor has it that is was <a href="f-16_fighting_falcon_airframe-4011.html">93-3542</a>... It used to be my jet when I was at Shaw a few years ago. Too bad it was a pretty good flyer.

Too many jets going down these days. Maybe it has something to do with all the force shaping and higher ops tempo these days. Too much work and not enough people. Just throwing that out there.

Dang.....3 writeoffs in 3 weeks.

Always heard the superstition that acft accidents happen in 3's. Especially 16's...

I mean you'd imagine they'd have a pretty good fix on him if he was able to bail out......10-15 minutes to warm up the helos, it's only 30 miles out there. You'd figure his wingman would have CAP'd him.

Article says his wingie did loiter but depending on where the SAR assets are comin' from it could take that long to get there. Still lookin' to see what CG Rescue units are closeby.

Hey all, Ex F-16 Crew Chief here.

[edit]

Shaw recalled all aircraft save for 3 that diverted to Charleston and 3 that stayed out there, we then launched out two more to replace the others since they were running out of fuel. This was the last go of the day during a pretty heavy week of flying. They had been pitting all week and today I haven't heard too much flying.

As you can imagine, we were getting bombarded with calls about whether the pilot had been recovered in the minutes after the accident, but it took about 30 to 40 minutes for the coast guard to show up. The aircraft went down in the Doubleshot Airspace of W177B about 30 miles from the coast.

If I'm correct, all three are GE engined machines.. a pattern?