F-16 down in Arizona

Fox News (computer version)

162nd Wing @162ndFW
An F-16 training with the AZANG crashed 20 miles northwest of Safford, Az at 3 p.m. Rescue efforts are underway. More information to come.
6:34 PM - Sep 5, 2017 · Tucson, AZ

(Please remove if already reported..)

I'll be the first to say it, but pilot didn't get out. He went down mid-afternoon, and as of an hour ago there was no word on his condition. Nine times out of ten, that means he rode it in.

Aircraft hit the ground at 3pm local, about 180 miles northeast of Tucson (by road).

a reply to: Zaphod58

What are the chances of survival when they come in hot like that?

I'm not very knowledgeable about military aircraft but I highly doubt he's got an airbag in that thing....

a reply to: Macenroe82

He has an ejection seat, but in all the years I've followed these things, if you don't hear he was rescued in the first 90 minutes or so, you're going to hear he didn't make it out.

Sad if he wasn't over a populated area and didn't punch out.

a reply to: Zaphod58

With ejection seat equipped aircraft, you basically either walk away, literally, or it's a closed casket funeral. It's like helicopters, there seems to be next to no middle ground whatsoever.

As for survivability, an F-16's dirty stall speed is still faster than cruise speed on most GA aircraft, and about as fast as an F1 cars averaged speed around a circuit.

a reply to: Barnalby

More or less. It's all or nothing, and with high speed craft, your envelope closes fast.

a reply to: Zaphod58

When your climb/descent rate is in the tens of thousands of feet per minute, that unfortunately happens. It's easy enough to lose 1000' in something small, I can only imagine how quickly 5-10000' go by in something that fast. You could become a lawn dart while you're still scrambling for your checklist.

a reply to: Zaphod58

www.foxnews.com...

There were two images about the crash in the report at the above location, one showed a complete canopy looking undamaged.

a reply to: Aliensun

He may have tried to get out and didn't make it. There's been A supersonic ejection that was survived in all the years of ejections. His back seater was killed, and he was beaten into a bloody mess. If he was vertical, heading for the ground, and tried to eject, the force of the air around the aircraft could have been strong enough to kill him.

If that crater is the main impact point, he was damn near supersonic, in a vertical dive at impact. That's a very iffy condition to be in when you're talking a survivable ejection.

a reply to: Zaphod58

If it is that worse case, may his soul rest in peace having given his life for his country doing what he wanted to do.

Updated link from Zaphs post.

UPDATE: According to media reports in the area, the Graham County Sheriff has confirmed the pilot has died.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Aliensun

He may have tried to get out and didn't make it. There's been A supersonic ejection that was survived in all the years of ejections. His back seater was killed, and he was beaten into a bloody mess. If he was vertical, heading for the ground, and tried to eject, the force of the air around the aircraft could have been strong enough to kill him.

If that crater is the main impact point, he was damn near supersonic, in a vertical dive at impact. That's a very iffy condition to be in when you're talking a survivable ejection.

As I recall, that was an F-15 mishap. The pilot did survive, but he was beaten to a pulp. Literally.

Bloody pulps have more form than that Airman had.

His survival was miraculous.

Last time I saw a crater that big was the Guyra F111 impact in NSW.

a reply to: Aliensun

Update:

Local news report it was an Iraqi student pilot
And an Iraqi owned aircraft.

Yipes. That's terrible. However, as ways to go, a smoking hole in the ground was always my preference.

And yes, at high speed, ejection becomes super complicated. Anything over around 400 knots will result in flail injuries. Likely broken arms and legs. Faster and you can break your neck.

Altitude goes away so fast that you need to decide to eject very early. In the Tomcat, in a spin, ejection altitude was mandatory at 10k feet. Due to altimeter lag and the time it takes to eject.

I know a few guys who died while ejecting, some of them because they simply ran out of time/altitude.

RIP brother

Idiot line of the day:

It wasn't immediately clear whether the single-engine fighter struck any property or was destroyed.

www.military.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Do these "journalists" not look at what's already been discovered and photographed?

if it was a populated area he may have saved allot of lives by giving his up.

Too bad for the Iraqi pilot.

Best job with a flamed-out F-16 goes to the Tbird pilot at COS a few years back, as he and his mates were holding for POTUS to arrive to give a speech. Plane went to the ground in an open field, barely crunched, and the pilot walked away.