Belgian AF F-16 damaged
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Voici l'image du F16 qui a explosé au sol à Florennes - La DH
I would say that the pictures showing the aircraft in the hangar circled are probably press guesswork as there is a substantial concrete wall that appears to be between them, also the hangar has not been taped off as far as I can see, so possibly it was from a HAS, good to see they appear to be in full hazmat gear as invisible burnt carbon fibre strands in the air are lethal and will shred the lungs and kill you..
from
https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...le?id=10043888
I would say that the pictures showing the aircraft in the hangar circled are probably press guesswork as there is a substantial concrete wall that appears to be between them, also the hangar has not been taped off as far as I can see, so possibly it was from a HAS, good to see they appear to be in full hazmat gear as invisible burnt carbon fibre strands in the air are lethal and will shred the lungs and kill you..
from
https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...le?id=10043888
Nutloose’s article above suggests that two other F-16s were ‘lightly’ damaged, and that the inquiry will determine among other things whether this ‘almost impossible’ event was deliberate or accidental.
Last edited by jolihokistix; 14th Oct 2018 at 01:19.
What happened to safe headings for parking with live guns? We didn't even walk in front of them when completing the pre-flight walk-round, ducking under the aircraft instead.
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..yep that's the bit I don't get JTO - something just doesn't feel quite right here; appreciate that sounds a bit of an understatement!
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Voici l'image du F16 qui a explosé au sol à Florennes - La DH
I would say that the pictures showing the aircraft in the hangar circled are probably press guesswork as there is a substantial concrete wall that appears to be between them, also the hangar has not been taped off as far as I can see, so possibly it was from a HAS, good to see they appear to be in full hazmat gear as invisible burnt carbon fibre strands in the air are lethal and will shred the lungs and kill you..
from
https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...le?id=10043888
I would say that the pictures showing the aircraft in the hangar circled are probably press guesswork as there is a substantial concrete wall that appears to be between them, also the hangar has not been taped off as far as I can see, so possibly it was from a HAS, good to see they appear to be in full hazmat gear as invisible burnt carbon fibre strands in the air are lethal and will shred the lungs and kill you..
from
https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...le?id=10043888
Way too long for me to remember for sure but I think it retained the nozzle at 95%, as it would be anyway at ground idle. The full idle range was something like 75 to 95% and the almost full nozzle dilation at ground idle helps to keep the thrust manageable whilst taxiing.
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Perfectly placed stop sign.
I wonder if the jet was parked outside a HAS opposite, possibly being rearmed etc as the angles look wrong for everything else, i would have thought the collapsed side was the one hit.
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.2368602,4.6609908,445m/data=!3m1!1e3
sat map above
.
I wonder if the jet was parked outside a HAS opposite, possibly being rearmed etc as the angles look wrong for everything else, i would have thought the collapsed side was the one hit.
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.2368602,4.6609908,445m/data=!3m1!1e3
sat map above
.
Last edited by NutLoose; 14th Oct 2018 at 15:12.
When I first heard of the incident I suspected that it may have involved an aircraft tooled up for QRA as the Belgians and Dutch share the commitment to cover themselves and Luxembourg. They swap over every four months and the Dutch began their latest stint only a month ago.
https://www.aviation24.be/military-a...elux-airspace/
https://www.aviation24.be/military-a...elux-airspace/
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The damaged jet carries A/A weapons. The jet next to it is about to get loaded probably since ground crew with missiles is nearby. Maybe there was a problem with the loading procedure.
Why all these stupid conspiracy theories?
I understand that European F-16s are often loaded with ball rounds to ensure that the CG is always in limits. So the jet in the hangar might have been carrying a routine ballast load?
Either shoddy maintenance procedures or an electrical fault caused this accident - but doesn't the F-16 gun system have fuses which can be removed when the aircraft is under rectification??
And now back to those idiots who will claim that this was down to some UFO event....
I understand that European F-16s are often loaded with ball rounds to ensure that the CG is always in limits. So the jet in the hangar might have been carrying a routine ballast load?
Either shoddy maintenance procedures or an electrical fault caused this accident - but doesn't the F-16 gun system have fuses which can be removed when the aircraft is under rectification??
And now back to those idiots who will claim that this was down to some UFO event....
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Lessons repeatedly learnt and forgotten - how many times have aircraft on airfields and carriers been hit by weapons being armed and serviced whilst pointing directly at them? Wasn’t that what sight lines were established pointing out at sea or empty land?
Bad enough in the days when aircraft were lined up on pans in front of hangars. In the days of airfields where aircraft are kept in HAS on sites purposely designed to prevent fratricide it’s unforgivable.
The person responsible isnt the technician - the system is designed to cope with that. It’s all those in the chain above him/her who have, apparently, disregarded every safety precaution in place to prevent exactly such an event.
One hopes the individual wont become a scapegoat.
Bad enough in the days when aircraft were lined up on pans in front of hangars. In the days of airfields where aircraft are kept in HAS on sites purposely designed to prevent fratricide it’s unforgivable.
The person responsible isnt the technician - the system is designed to cope with that. It’s all those in the chain above him/her who have, apparently, disregarded every safety precaution in place to prevent exactly such an event.
One hopes the individual wont become a scapegoat.
Here are some F-16 facts that might enlighten the debate:
Blk. 15 F-16’s are always loaded with live rounds as this is required due to CG requirements. There are dummy rounds available (same size and weight) but I have never seen them used or heard of any F-16 operator that does. I think they are only used for some type of gun tests where the ammo drum and feeding belt has to be tested.
Normally during light maintenance the gun ammo is not downloaded. Only missiles, bombs and expendables like chaff and flares are downloaded. The gun however is made cold in the following way which is also used during flight when a cold gun is needed (most training missions):
1: Rounds limiter switch set to ON with rounds counter set to 990. (set to OFF or ON with 510 or less on counter when hot gun needed)
2: Electrical safety pin installed. (Removed when hot gun needed)
3: Clearing sector holdback toll installed. (Removed when hot gun needed)
All 3 steps are sufficient to prevent the gun from firing on their own. Furthermore, the gun needs hydraulic pressure to operate. Without the engine running this is only possible if the jet is connected to a hydraulic test rig (normally used to test LDG gear, flight controls, wheel brakes and gun system).
Last but not least to fire the gun on the ground (without a faulty WOW switch) one would need to put the GND JETT enable switch to Enable, select a gun mode (A/A or A/G), select Master Arm switch to arm and press the trigger.
Glad nobody was seriously hurt and hope that this guy won’t be used as a scapegoat to hide a leadership problem.