Mystery surrounds F-16, pilot in Iraq crash

Stars and Stripes ^ | November 29, 2006 | Joseph Giordono

[Jet Jaguar]

Officials say jet belongs to New Mexico-based fighter wing, but all its pilots are accounted for.

The pilot of an F-16 that crashed Monday in Iraq’s Anbar province is officially listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown, as defense officials confirmed that the plane — though not the pilot — was assigned to a squadron deployed to Iraq from New Mexico.

Pentagon officials have not confirmed broadcast reports and video and still images apparently showing the pilot’s body and parachute on the ground. The pilot’s body was apparently removed before U.S. forces arrived on the scene after the crash, officials said Tuesday.

Air Force officials at Central Command said they had seen a video from Al-Jazeera showing what was “purported to be the pilot’s body,” but the military said they could not authenticate or validate the footage.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that videotape footage obtained by AP Television News appears to show the wreckage of a U.S. single-seat F-16CG jet in the farm field where it crashed Monday and the remains of an American serviceman with a tangled parachute nearby.

At a Pentagon press briefing Tuesday morning in Arlington, Va., spokesman Bryan Whitman offered no new details of the crash or the status of the pilot. Late Monday, a spokeswoman from Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, confirmed that the downed aircraft belonged to the 524th Fighter Squadron, 27th Fighter Wing, part of which is deployed to Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad.

But, Capt. Rebecca Garcia said, all of the wing’s pilots were accounted for.

It was unclear how often or why a pilot from another squadron would be flying an aircraft assigned to that wing, officials said.

Late Tuesday, a pair of insurgent groups in Iraq — the Mujahideen Army and the Mujahideen Shura Council — issued a joint statement claiming they had shot down the aircraft.

Earlier, the top military spokesman in Baghdad said it was unlikely that the plane had been shot down, citing the speed at which the jet normally operates and the lack so far of insurgent weapons capable of hitting a fighter jet.

The jet went down around 1:30 p.m. Monday in an empty field north of Fallujah. The Associated Press quoted one witness, who was interviewed by phone, as saying the plane had been flying erratically before it nose-dived into the field.

U.S. officials said other aircraft circled above the downed F-16 and observed insurgents move in on the crash site.

Reporters Jeff Schogol and Lisa Burgess contributed to this report from the Pentagon.

[martin_fierro]

Officials say jet belongs to New Mexico-based fighter wing, but all its pilots are accounted for.

You catch my drift.

[Ecliptic]

Ummm...not yet..

[Valpal1]

So who was flying the jet? Was it stolen?

[Candor7]

So the pilot is not from the New Mexico Wing now serving in Iraq. Do you suppose that the pilot went up for a qualification hop and bloopstered into a nose dive? Looks like your drift could be right, and there had to be a fail safe way to get rid of someone. Slept with someone's wife?

The pilot probably voted Democrap?

I sure hope this all is NOT the case, but something is starting to stink in Denmark.This IS a strange case.

[Grut]

Earlier, the top military spokesman in Baghdad said it was unlikely that the plane had been shot down, citing the speed at which the jet normally operates and the lack so far of insurgent weapons capable of hitting a fighter jet.

Sigh. I look at that and all I can think is "there are no SAMS at Tchepone."

[ryan71]

Strange...

Could it have been an unmanned test?

The AF can't determine who was flying one of their $25 million jets?

[Jet Jaguar]

Interesting take.

I have read articles about unmanned fighter tests.

[redlegplanner]

"accounted for" does not equal "alive"

[Tinian]

F-16 Mishap News

USAF F-16 crashes in Iraq

November 27, 2006 (by Asif Shamim) - A U.S. F-16CG has crashed during operations north of Falluja in Iraq's western Anbar province. According to sources the pilot did not survive.

The F-16 (#90-0776), belonging to the 524th Fighter Squadron, was supporting coalition ground forces when it went down at about 13.35hrs, about 20 miles northwest of the capital Baghdad in Anbar province.

Military sources have only issued brief statements in which no information about the cause of the crash have been released. The status of the pilot is officially listed as “duty status: whereabouts unknown”.

However according to Reuters, a local journalist who shot film of the wreckage of the plane said he was in no doubt the pilot was dead. The film showed the bloodied and motionless body of what appeared to be a man in a flight suit wearing a parachute harness lying in a field strewn with the wreckage of the plane.

Cannon AFB officials have said the pilot was not from there air base. Public Informations Officer, Capt. Rebecca Garcia was quoted to have said “All of our Cannon pilots are accounted for”.

Eyewitness Mohammed Al-Obeidi, an Iraqi who lives in the nearby town of Karmah, said he saw the jet flying up and down erratically before it nose-dived and exploded in a farm field.

He said other U.S. warplanes rushed to the crash site and were circling around it.

[Jet Jaguar]

True. I saw the video of the canopy of the jet laying on the ground.

A good sign that the pilot did eject. I have not seen any other video. So my opinion would just be speculation.

[Jet Jaguar]

Thanks for the update.

[SIDENET]

U.S. officials said other aircraft circled above the downed F-16 and observed insurgents move in on the crash site.

Observe? Why not KILL THEM?

[sissyjane]

Think about it...an unmanned F-16?????

[Rokke]

There are several fulltime staff assigned to the bases our aircraft fly from, who regularly fly with the squadrons that rotate through Iraq and elsewhere. They are fully qualified and current in the aircraft they fly and usually very experienced and highly qualified pilots.

[SW6906]

What was your drift?

[Tijeras_Slim]

One of them little guys from Roswell was joyriding.

[Himyar]

It's probably an air guard troop from one of the units cycling through. Units rarely deploy with only their planes. It's usually a mix from several units. My son got back from Balad in September. They were flying 16s from several units besides their own.

[TankerKC]

The pilot probably voted Democrap?

What in the hell are you talking about?

[Jet Jaguar]

I know that, however, I was hesitant to post it without more info.