TWEE F16'S NEERGESTORT IN MARCHE
In de buurt van Marche-en-Famenne in de
Ardennen zijn dinsdag rond 12 uur twee
Belgische F16's neergestort.
Over het lot van de piloten is er nog
geen duidelijkheid.
Ook over de omstandigheden waarin het
ongeluk is gebeurd, is op dit ogenblik
nog niets bekend.
2 F-16's crash near Marche-en-Famenne at around 12 o'-clock, circumstances and fatalities/injuries unknown...
Over het lot van de piloten is er nog geen duidelijkheid. Volgens het Franse persbureau AFP heeft minstens één piloot zich met zijn schietstoel kunnen redden.
Ook over de omstandigheden waarin het ongeluk is gebeurd, is op dit ogenblik nog niets bekend.
Het gaat om toestellen die als basis Kleine Brogel hadden. Ze waren op een oefenmissie.
Hi
I heard on the radio ;
The pilots are safe and sound, and the F-16 are from Turkish Air Force.
The pilots ejected themselves
More infos later!!!
ciao d sabena4ever
Hi
Correction; The 2 F-16 were based at Kleine-Brogel, sorry
One of the 2 pilots is ligthly wounded.
The F-16 crashed near Faillon, at 7km from Havellange, at 11:20.
from RTBF News
ciao d sabena4ever
L-1011 wrote:Why do I have the impression that such incidents happen more often to the Belgian military than to others
Is my impression correct
Since the F16 was introduced in four European countries (B, NL, DK, N) some 25 years ago (between 1975 and 1982), Belgium has lost 35 of its 160 planes (and 13 pilots died). That rate is not higher than in Holland.
This is awful for the pilot's family. But there must be a higher risk with such flying, as the aircraft are flying faster and lower than conventional aircraft. If something does go wrong, the time to correct the problem is very much lessened by the closer proximity to the ground and the higher speed of the aircraft. The margin for error is obviously much smaller than in higher altitude flight.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise
Your points are absolutely correct + the fact that mil a/c are often flying in formation and collide with each other. mil flying is dangerous - thats why they fit "bang seats") I do think that the F-16 has a pretty good record compared with earlier fighter types, particularly the Starfighter - the WGAF lost many, many aircraft and pilots. When the 104 stopped flying it was often a dramatic and deadly experience.
(I have a Danish colloeague who was in the Air Force training in the US on F-16's and had a flame-out in a high "G" turn at very low level, consequently he punched out but unfortunately the canopy did not break until his seat (and head) went through it. Many months of reconstructive surgery were required and he is now 4 cms shorter than before the accident.)