F-16 Fighting Falcon News

June 6, 2000 (by Lieven Dewitte) - An F-16 fighter jet released a practice bomb off target, dropping it just outside a battery factory Wednesday.
No one was injured when the practice bomb slammed into the ground in an open field near the Yuasa Corp. plant south of Sumter. The bomb carried the explosive charge of a shotgun shell and smoked to indicate where it landed. The F-16 was supposed to drop it during a training run near the Manchester State Forest about 10 miles away. It was just what they call an inadvertent release.

Military officials ruled out pilot error, but are still trying to figure out why the practice bomb fell off target.