January 23, 2004 (by Lieven Dewitte) -
Aircraft debris that washed up on a beach about six miles from Misawa Air Base belongs to a U.S. F-16DJ that crashed in the Pacific Ocean almost three years ago, base officials said Wednesday.
A 62-year-old Japanese man found the large aircraft fragment while on his morning walk Sunday and turned it over to Misawa police.
The part is from the forward, right-hand portion of the canopy assembly and measures 23.5 inches by 78 inches. The piece bore identifying information used to trace it to the 35th Fighter Wing aircraft.
An engine failure caused the F-16 to crash in the Pacific Ocean near Draughon Range April 3, 2001. First Lt. Mark Hadley, a pilot with the 13th Fighter Squadron, ejected safely and was rescued.
About 80 percent of the wrecked jet has been recovered. Two small pieces of aircraft caught in a fishing net last June also were traced to the downed plane.
Since April 1989, 10 F-16 fighter jets from Misawa have crashed - two in the Pacific Ocean. The most recent was in April 2002, when an F-16C was wrecked in the Sea of Japan.
