Belgian AF F-16 damaged
 

Going to guns :confused:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=216189

I don't know how accurate this is, but this was posted to Facebook this morning.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1500e9f8d9.png

Far too many holes even to start with, and I don't mean in the one shot up.

A lot of holes in that particular Swiss cheese lined up if that is true

"One technician incurred hearing impairment."

Probably from the line technician's post accident one-way interview! :eek:

IF this is not a hoax then a LOT of holes in the cheese all lined up..or someone knew exactly what they were doing!

If it is a hoax, it's a very good one - persuading the base commander to talk about it on TV really adds the element of credence essential to all good wind-ups. Rather than accuse the technician of being a criminal (as inferred), I prefer to think it involved someone who didn't know exactly what they were doing. And as for the cheese hole alignment, I dealt with a civ incident recently where 15 barriers failed, leading to a wrong runway departure; it seems there was more hole than actual cheese, as with the Florennes event.

No tea, no biscuits?

Still, look on the bright side. Thank goodness no people were in the way of it. And, at least we know the Vulcan cannon works OK.

Wow. Armed acft in the hangar...
no bullet trap...
somehow over-ride the squat switch...
activate the gun without checking all above...

The technician will be wishing he had been standing in front of it.

Never mind all that, just answer me why there were rounds fitted in the hanger?
Either it was intentional or something else happened they are not telling us.

One, you score ...

Interesting title for the thread, looking at the pictures I'd say maybe amend it to destroyed

Thankfully nobody was seriously injured and they still have 54 others left

Lot of assumptions there, If it is on maintenance as an example, it may be upon sticks and hence the squat switches do not come into it. you dont have to press the trigger to fire a gun, simply make a circuit somewhere along the line.

Fox 4 ...

...four more and he's an ace..

Thanks, gents. As an amateur in this field I was wondering about 'weight on wheels'.

I have also learned a couple of new buzz-words. ;)

not inop, just it's on sticks so they are open, I wasn't trying to make assumptions, just pointing out there could be a myriad of reasons, again that makes it sound like he deliberately pressed it, again examples, stick top change due to fault and faulty top fitted, electrical snags being worked on etc, all could trigger it, we don't know and the assumptions posted infered one guy was at fault, either way he will be feeling pretty sh*te about now and they will be trying to put the pieces together.

BGG do you remember the Harrier fired off the SNEBS in the hangar? I could list several instances, aircraft on an operational turnround would be armed in the HAS on exercise. Indeed we had one ******** pilot as an inject fire off the Phimat in a Manned HAS, he came close to counting knuckles.

MPN11 :)
squat switches and 'weight on wheels' are the same thing.

The Americans when teaching our Chinook crews used to disconnect the switches BTW

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpPV9IEW0AArOsm.jpg
Https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpPV6imWkAEG9Ls.jpg

All images from

https://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=141002

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..

https://ds1.static.rtbf.be/image/med...ed7fe974c3.jpg

from

https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/de...le?id=10043888

As has been pointed out, there's a wall between the hangar and the flightline.
But there is a gap in the wall...

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5fea3d62ef.jpg

just a general inquiry but do NATO nations receive the enhanced ballistic round the US uses?

..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!

Didn't the F16 also have an APU that ran of hydrazine? I seem to recall a hydrazine leak from a visiting F16 which led to a couple of our lineys being put in hospital. That would certainly require HazMat suits...

Would appear that the HAS(s) are acceptable mitigating structures.

You’d need a thicker wall than that
 

Even without a gap you’d need a thicker wall than that to stop cannon rounds

What does the nozzle of a shut down F 16 position to???

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.

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

.

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/

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.