F-16 Fighting Falcon News

March 8, 2006 (by Lieven Dewitte) - The safety record for a North Dakota Air National Guard unit needs an asterisk as it appears that a South Carolina unit has more than 101,000 hours in its fighters without a major accident.
The Fargo based 119th Fighter Wing, known as the Happy Hooligans, had announced no other Air Guard unit in the country had a longer accident-free flying tenure for F-16s. The group surpassed 70,000 hours without a mishap earlier this week.

Officials of the 119th however now discovered that a South Carolina unit has flown more than 101,000 hours in its fighters without a major accident.

The record for the 169th "Swamp Fox" Fighter Wing, spans five years longer than the 119th, which started flying F-16s in 1990.

The 169th last crashed an F-16 in Feb 1985 while the 119th has never lost an F-16.

The F-16A block 10 with serial 79-0323 hit the ground on the Townsend Bombing Range, Georgia, which is used routinely by all services to fine-tune the bombing and air combat skills of fighter pilots.

Officials from Pratt and Whitney and Lockheed Martin are scheduled to be in Fargo Saturday to honor the 119th Fighter Wing for its safety record.