Posted on 07/23/2012 8:22:36 AM PDT by kronos77
An American F-16 fighter jet went down in a Russian exclusive economic zone near the Kuril Islands on Sunday. The pilot successfully ejected before the jet plummeted into the waters below.
“The Kamchatsky territorial naval rescue center reported at 8:30 am local time (8:30 pm GMT) that an aircraft was in distress over the Pacific Ocean near the northern Kurils,” Andrey Orlov, a spokesman for the Russian Border Guard Service in the Far East said. Later on it turned out to be an American F-16.
The Russian Antias border patrol vessel and an An-72 patrol aircraft were dispatched to the crash zone, though the pilot was ultimately picked up by the Japanese the Hokko Maru fishery research vessel about five hours after the crash.
Orlov says the fighter jet sank almost immediately after the crash. The Antias patrol vessel that arrived at the scene has not found even a petrol spot on the surface of the ocean, so the crash site poses no threat to ecology, the Russian border guard reported.
The crew of the Hokko Maru is expected to hand over the rescued pilot to an American patrol vessel in the Pacific.
The 35th Fighter Wing’s F-16 fighter jet was reportedly hopping from Misawa Air Base in Japan to Alaska.
Another incident with an F-16 fighter jet occurred on May 4 when the fighter went down during a training flight in Utah's western desert.
Relieved the pilot is safe. Dare I suggest single engine airplanes and over water don’t seem a reasonable proposition?
Most of these airplanes are old. Very sad. Very precarious. No idea what block this aircraft is from or the circumstances the fact remains that this is most probably an old airplane. It is certainly an old design.
Even if you have a well maintained 1985 Corvette sitting in your garage maintenance can’t overcome the fact that it is nearly THIRTY years old.
Five hours in the water. That had to suck. Even if he had radio contact and a raft it still sucks.
Yup, stinks out loud. It is a wonder he survived. I wonder how cold the water is there?
Sending people out who are smart enough to do just about anything they want to do and who have volunteered their lives like these pilots do in equipment this old is just wrong.
Sure many of them are living a dream but still they are making a sacrifice. They have earned better than we are supporting them with. Not only are they paying an opportunity price they work outrageous hours at tedious tasks and get just a few hours of highly restricted flight. It is all mission and all closely monitored. There aren’t many joy rides. Fair enough, we pay for it all for a purpose and it isn’t for entertainment of a few. That is the deal. Still though, people get the idea all these guys do is burn holes in the sky.
The state of our Air Force equipment is a national disgrace. Just one of many though. Our world is wrong.
I am surprised that this is in the news.
When Bubba Clinton cut the military budget and accidents during training had the predictable upswing, it was quashed in the news.
I once owned an ‘85 vette.
My “well maintained” 1988 F150 is still my daily driver.
I don’t trust it any more than about 100 miles or so away from the house.
After I save up for the engine rebuild, that will be a different story.
Water there is probably not that cold, since there’s a current similar to the gulfstream coming up the coast of Japan, and it is summer. 5 hours would still suck, though. Long time alone to think about the multi-million dollar aircraft you just turned into a new reef.
There's a reason most modern naval carrier-based aircraft have two engines...
S3
A6
F4
F14
F18
F35
Notable exceptions:
A4
AV8
F8
I'm probably forgetting some on both ends of the scale but twin-engines are the rule
Sorry Grob, but the F-35 is a single, which is yet another strike against the POS.
Single engine on the F-35
Does it fly? I mean off the ground? Does it carry its own weight in high G maneuvers?
Even with a new engine it will be a different story than an aircraft.
“...Does it fly? I mean off the ground? Does it carry its own weight in high G maneuvers?...”
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I was more or less agreeing with your 1985 Corvette analogy from post #3.
“Old Red” did fly one time, but it was not intentional, and it was most definitely not maneuverable.
Afterwards, I had to go home and put on fresh underwear.
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