Saturday, March 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Jet crashes at Nellis; pilot ejects safely
Officials say malfunction occurred shortly after takeoff
By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Nellis Air Force Base personnel from the 57th Wing Safety Office examine the wreckage of an F-16C fighter jet that crashed Friday. The pilot ejected safely.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
Col. Thomas McCarthy talks about Friday's crash at Nellis Air Force Base of the F-16C fighter jet in the background.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
|
A Nellis Air Force Base pilot ejected safely Friday before his F-16C Fighting Falcon jet crashed at the base as he tried to land it following a malfunction shortly after takeoff, officials said.
The jet, assigned to 16th Weapons Squadron at Nellis, was one of two in an advance party destined for Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida for a missile firing exercise when the accident occurred at 8:34 a.m.
No munitions were on board the aircraft, said Col. Thomas McCarthy, vice commander of the 57th Wing.
He said the F-16Cs were heading south from the base when the problem occurred.
"While airborne, he and the ground crew were discussing what to do to alleviate the malfunction," McCarthy told reporters. He was standing near where the $19 million aircraft came to a rest, close to a road at the north end of the base about 150 yards from where the pilot ejected.
He declined to identify the uninjured pilot or speculate on the exact cause of the crash, the first at Nellis this year. An F/A-22 Raptor crashed during takeoff in the same area on Dec. 20. The Raptor pilot, who has not been identified, also ejected safely.
McCarthy said the F-16C pilot is a very experienced instructor with more than 1,500 hours of flying F-16s.
"There was smoke and a little bit of fire," he said, noting that responders moved quickly to extinguish it.
The aircraft was destroyed. It was one of 53 F-16s assigned to the base, which has 150 aircraft in all. The fighter jet became operational in 1992.
McCarthy said no aircraft were grounded as a result of Friday's crash, unlike what occurred after the Raptor crash.
Investigations continue into both crashes.
In the aftermath of the Dec. 20 crash, the nation's F/A-22 Raptors, including seven that remain at Nellis, were grounded for two weeks until Jan. 6, a week before Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper revealed that a glitch in the software for controlling flight probably caused the Dec. 20 crash.
Friday's crash came as fighter jets began arriving at Nellis for a joint services and coalition Red Flag training exercise. A runway remained open to handle incoming planes, McCarthy said.
