Pilot Escapes With Minor Injuries

An F-16C Fighting Falcon assigned to the 49th Wing crashed during landing at Holloman Air Force Base at approximately 6 p.m. MDT July 13. The pilot on board the single seat jet successfully ejected, and is currently being treated for minor injuries.

The Air Force is having a really tough run of luck... some of it deadly.

The crash is the fifth Air Force fighter jet since mid-May. Two of the previous crashes saw the tragic losses of Air Force pilots. It is also the Air Force’s second F-16 crash in just two weeks.

On June 30, 1st Lt. David Schmitz of Shaw AFB’s 77th Fighter Squadron was lost when his F-16CM went down during a landing at the South Carolina facility.

The aircraft involved was an F-16C... the result of an improvement program led to upgrades over the F-16 A and B configurations. The F-16C and F-16D aircraft, which are the single- and two-place respectively, incorporate the updated cockpit control and display technology. All active units and many Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units have converted to the F-16C/D.

An investigation conducted by a board of qualified officers is underway to determine the cause of the incident. Additional details will be released as they become available, though the USAF investigative process can be fairly slow.

FMI: www.af.mil