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F-16 blows up F-16 by accident on ground


Seth

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https://jalopnik.com/technician-accidentally-sets-off-an-f-16-cannon-blows-1829732241
 
In the believe it or not category, a technician while servicing an F-16 accidently activated the cannon thus blowing up another F-16.
-Seth
How does one explain that mistake? Whoops I meant to test the other circuit?

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It was a Belgium technician and F-16.  Also two people were injured. Extent of injuries unknown.  Scroll through the article - the pics were quite descriptive.  Big fireball.

At least it wasn’t as bad as the USS Forestall - when a carrier had  a Rocket go off and start a massive fire on the flight deck. But that was 50 years ago!

-Seth

Edited by Seth
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I worked on 15s instead of 16s but it’s the same gun. Very long list of things would have to be done wrong or ignored for this to happen. We would even point the aircraft in a safe direction when loaded with live rounds, which sometimes required them to be moved to the opposite side of the airfield. WOW switch, safety pins pulled, hydro power, electrical power, cockpit switches positioned incorrectly... 

Edited by lamont337
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Something similar happened to an ordinary guy named... John McCain... McCain was on the receiving  end...iircc

The names USS Forestall and McCain May be hard to remember after 50 years...?

But... two things...

1) If something can go wrong... It will go wrong...

2) always point the rifle down range... (loaded or not). Never in the direction of another person.

How young were you when you learned these important lessons?  Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts...?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire

Don't let distractions get the best of you...

Having a bad day can get really expensive, really quickly.

All this applies to much more simple systems as well. Using safety devices, correctly, has become a part of the normal operation...

There is an empty feeling associated with seeing accidents at work... better to avoid them.

PP thoughts only, not an OSHA guy.

Best regards,

-a-

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My fave was the mechanic that plugged the outflow valves in a KC-135 and then did a pressurization test on the cabin with a homemade pressure gauge.   Exploded the fuselage and destroyed the airplane.   The pics are rather surprising.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/time-kc-135-stratotanker-aircraft-exploded-failed-pressure-test/

 

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1 hour ago, EricJ said:

My fave was the mechanic that plugged the outflow valves in a KC-135 and then did a pressurization test on the cabin with a homemade pressure gauge.   Exploded the fuselage and destroyed the airplane.   The pics are rather surprising.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/time-kc-135-stratotanker-aircraft-exploded-failed-pressure-test/

 

What is truly amazing is that the aircraft was delivered in June, 1958 and survived all those years flying missions the world over while taking all kinds of punishment. The only thing it couldn't survive was pure stupidity.

 

 

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On 10/14/2018 at 12:40 PM, steingar said:

Usually when these things happen I say thankfully no one was hurt, and they’ll make more airplanes. But I don’t think we can make more F-16s even if we want to, and it’s replacement is out of production and in short supply as well.

They still make F-16s.  

Edited by tony
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