Posted on 06/15/2007 11:47:50 AM PDT by HAL9000
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing crashed in Iraq at 12:27 a.m. June 15. There was one crewmember on board.The aircraft was flying on a close-air-support mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Not good...
The Silk Worms?
Modern Russian MANPAD SAM equipment??
I’m no expert, but I’d be willing to bet you more F-16’s have crashed in CONUS than in Iraq the last five years.
Most likely either mechanical failure or the pilot lost situational awareness and crashed. It was at night, a the pilot, in close air support, may have been operating at low altitude. We’ll see. The enemy hasn’t bene able to bring weapons to bear on any of our fast moving fixed wing aircraft ... so odds are they didn’t this time.
Hopefully the pilot is okay.
The old joke used to be: How can you get to own a USAF F-16? Answer: Buy an acre of land in Utah and wait.
We would lose 2 or 3 a year at the Goldwater Range.
Agree.
Just FYI ... if the memory is working right ... the Silkworn missiles are Chinese derivatives of the old Soviet Styx surface to surface anti-ship missiles and do not have an anti-aircraft capability.
MOT&E - Multi Organizational Testing and Evaluation.
Back in those days it was Multi Organizational Takeoff and Ejection.
Out of Toledo. Ohio Air National Guard.
At this point there are very few details but public affairs officer Colonel Carole Allen has confirmed the aircraft belonged to the 112th FS. An investigation has started and details about pilot status have not been release.
Early reports by the USAF are stating the loss is an accident.
On May 23, 2007 the 112th FS along with aircraft borrowed from the 125th FS departed Toledo, Ohio sent twelve F-16Cs to be deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base, 50 miles north of Baghdad. Half the aircraft belong to the 125th FS so possibly one of this squadrons F-16s was lost, however the pilot would be from the 112th FS.
It’s the first such loss in more than six months. A pilot was killed when an F-16 crashed last November in the western province of Anbar.
This news article will be updated as information becomes available.
F-16 Fighter Plane from Toledo Crashes in Iraq; Airman Killed
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-8445.html
sigh.
My husband is an Air National Guard pilot serving in Iraq... from California.
Prayers for all concerned.
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.