Posted on 05/17/2004 2:14:30 PM PDT by Samwise
OAKTOWN, Ind. -- Two F-16 fighter jets collided in midair Monday afternoon over southwestern Indiana, killing one of the pilots, the Indiana Air National Guard said. The other pilot parachuted to safety.
National Guard Capt. Lisa Kopczynski said the two jets were from the Terre Haute-based 181st Fighter Wing and were on routine training in airspace reserve for military training near the Indiana-Illinois state line.
The names of the pilots were not immediately released.
Resident Lisa Hall said she was at home in the area about 40 miles south of Terre Haute when she heard an explosion and that she saw the dead pilot's body in a field nearby.
"I walked outside and saw the man coming down in the parachute," Hall said. "His parachute wasn't open, it was collapsed."
State police Sgt. Greg Winkler said the jets collided about 1:40 p.m.
Lt. Col. Colbert with the Indiana Air National Guard, who did not give his first name, said one plane made contact with the ground in Indiana, and the other was on the ground in Illinois, west of the Wabash River. The pilot whose plane ended up in Indiana was OK and taken to a hospital, but the Air National Guard had yet to make contact with the plane in Illinois, Colbert said.
Sandra Hatton, a spokeswoman for Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, said an officer with the Indiana Air National Guard's 181st Fighter Wing was taken to the hospital, but said she could not disclose his condition. She referred questions to the National Guard, which did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.
Don Kirkham, a former Knox County sheriff, said he was mowing his lawn when he heard a boom or explosion and then looked up to see someone parachuting down. He said he drove to that area near the Indiana-Illinois state line and found two other people comforting the pilot, who was agitated and had head wounds.
"He's OK. He's bleeding from facial wounds," Kirkham said.
"All he was concerned about was his buddy. He said 'I'm not worried about anything but my buddy,' so we cornered him and got him into an ambulance," Kirkham said.
Illinois State Police Sgt. John Waggle said one of the planes was down in Illinois, but he would not give any other details and referred questions to Indiana authorities.
Storms with the potential to produce lightning and small hail were crossing the area at the time of the crash, but no severe weather was reported in Knox County, said Jason Puma, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.
"There were some thunderstorms in that area at the time, but I don't what kind of role that could have played in the incident," Puma said.
Karla Caballero, manager of Da Bar & Grill in Oaktown, said she was talking on the phone to her mother when she heard what she assumed was a sonic boom.
She said that about 15 minutes later a man came into the bar and said he saw a pilot parachute down along nearby U.S. 41 who said he spoke to the pilot, who appeared fine.
She said other people said they saw smoke coming from an area about 6 to 8 miles south of the rural town of about 800 people
Actually this was another post, not yours...
ok thank you,
I posted before I really took the time to see if this story was already posted.
This hit pretty close to home for me.
I am sad for the loss of this pilot. May God comfort the family. I pray comfort for the surviving pilot also.
No, not the Tribune-Star, although I did work for that paper at one time.
The pilot's name was Major William Burchett.
Remember him and his family in our prayers
http://arpc.afrc.af.mil/promo/maj/04_02select.htm
All I can find on the flyer was he was promoted to Major on 29 May of 2002.........Prayers for his surviving family and friends.
Stay Safe !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.