Technician Accidentally Sets off an F-16 Cannon Blows Up Another F-16

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Technician Accidentally Sets off an F-16 Cannon Blows Up Another F-16

提交时间：2 年以前

A technician Accidentally Sets off an F-16 Cannon Blows Up Another F-16 at the Florennes Air Base on October 11. A technician in one of the F-16s accidentally hit the metaphorical big red button and activated its six-barreled Vulcan M16A-1 cannon. A F-16 had recently been fully fueled for a training run, and the bullets hit the gas tank. (jalopnik.com) 更多...

Calvin Seigler

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Charles Baker 2 年以前 26

Only 4 to go and this guy will be an Ace.

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Pete Goldman 2 年以前 2

3 to go. Gets credit for his too.

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joel wiley 2 年以前 3

Own goals also count.

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Rex Bentley 2 年以前 6

If anything can go wrong it will go wrong. Murphy is alive and well and still with us!

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joel wiley 2 年以前 5

Murphy was an optimist.

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Bill Fambrough 2 年以前 5

That does it. Effective immediately, Dick's Sporting Goods will no longer sell Vulcan cannons. It's for the children.

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Ric Wernicke 2 年以前 9

Good thing he didn't find the handle for the ejection seat.

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joel wiley 2 年以前 6

Maybe not. Would be cheaper to fix.

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jacken 2 年以前 2

He did and now lives in Prague...

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Mike R 2 年以前 0

I was at the Willow Grove airshow on the day after that happened.

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Robert Embury 2 年以前 0

Sad really. Is our world getting more stupid?

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Robert Griffith 2 年以前 9

Could this have been for a new State Farm commercial? "Been there. Covered that."

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David Grimm 2 年以前 5

That's Farmers, not State Farm.

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Robert Griffith 2 年以前 1

Oops!

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Charles Albritton 2 年以前 3

...said the technician

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cspaugh 2 年以前 5

We. Are. Belgians. Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah!

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James Simms 2 年以前 0

Allstate

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Robert May 2 年以前 4

When F16 cannons are outlawed only outlaws will have F16 cannons.

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jacken 2 年以前 4

Thankfully, the weapons test went without a hitch.

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wingbolt 2 年以前 3

I guess it needs a grip safety like Springfield puts on their XDs!

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Jose Mejia 2 年以前 3

"An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-16 Falcon occurred yesterday. I am please to report that the pilot was not injured." Lt Col James "Rhodey" Rhodes

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Ant Miraa 2 年以前 1

nice

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ToddBaldwin3 2 年以前 3

I don't think i've seen a six barreled M16 before. A six barreled M61A1, yes.

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Kevin Haiduk 2 年以前 3

"What's this button do?"

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Michael Stansfield 2 年以前 5

Will his defense be "it just went off by itself"? I dunno about this, but I would think there is more to firing the cannon than accidentally hitting one button.

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Torsten Hoff 2 年以前 6

Or "I didn't know it was loaded" -- that one is very popular, too.

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sparkie624 2 年以前 14

The other one in the Maintenance World... "It required a Functional Check"... In this case... "Functional Check Good" and they have the other plane to prove it!

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Roger Curtiss 2 年以前 3

No, the defense is, "I was cleaning it and it accidentally went off"

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sparkie624 2 年以前 1

Crazy and expectorating things happen that you would never think of...

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ToddBaldwin3 2 年以前 3

It spit out quite a few things.

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alan75035 2 年以前 4

That'll buff right out.

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James Simms 2 年以前 1

A little Bondo, bailing wire, chewing gum, & elbow grease ought to do it

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James Carlson 2 年以前 1

Just wrap it in speed tape. It'll hold.

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Bill Butler 2 年以前 2

WOG Switch. Weight on Gear. Can be disabled. For example when doing ground gear checks. So, I would think that the only way a gun could be fired on the ground would be to disable the switch. Unless you're an Aircraft Carrier and back up the starter unit next to the head of a Sidewinder. That was very costly....

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lynx318 2 年以前 2

Maybe first thing in maintenance should be back ordinance out of load chutes.

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Steve Dietrich 2 年以前 2

How to prevent

Don't mess around in a jet with the power on and the cannon loaded.

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Manfred Schultze 2 年以前 2

The technician now is called "Ballermann 6" ;)

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scott8733 2 年以前 2

The article title should have been completed as "...blows up another F-16 and needs a new pair of underwear" HA!

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Kevin Haiduk 2 年以前 1

I was just laughing at the title, but this adds a little more.

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Robert Fleming 2 年以前 1

no kidding! HA!

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mariofer 2 年以前 2

Hey Lieutenant! Cannon's working.

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James Simms 2 年以前 2

Pleasantly surprised a 2 Lt wasn’t involved.

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pagheca 2 年以前 2

aviation math: F16 - F16= Zero

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Robert Fleming 2 年以前 2

oops

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Arnold Aasen 2 年以前 2

Directorate has opened an investigation to see what, exactly, they can do to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, possibly with even worse results.

Sounds like typical bureaucrats when they get done the results could be worse.

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James Carlson 2 年以前 2

"Cannon ground-tested operational. 11-OCT-2018. Joe Mechanic, #1234567, /s/"

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Tim Marks 2 年以前 3

This is not accidental, there is more than one safety interlock for the gun when on the ground that must be disengaged before it can fire.

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ToddBaldwin3 2 年以前 7

That is correct, but safety interlocks can, and have to be, bypassed by maintainers when performing maintenance.

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chalet 2 年以前 2

Earlier this year an AMRAAM AIM-120 missile accidentally launched from an Spanish Air Force Eurofighter while airborne. Fortunately there was no damages other than the 1 million dollars it cost. So far nobody says what happened, a pilot depressing the button or that some shortcircuit was the culplit.

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chalet 2 年以前 1

OOPS, IT COST 100 MILLION (YES ONE HUNDRED)!!!!

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Thomas Cain 2 年以前 1

You were closer the first time, if it was a 120C the unit cost is between 300000 and 400000. If it was a 120D then the cost is 1.786 million

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chalet 2 年以前 1

I meant to say Euros 100 million for the Amraam and a sister Eurofighter in formation if it was in front of the culprit.

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michael may 2 年以前 1

Hey it`s good news for the US arms industry - 2 new sales on the way.....

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Mike R 2 年以前 1

Does anyone remember when an F16 on live fire training strafed a New Jersey elementary school? I've searched all over but can't find photos of the damage.

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James Carlson 2 年以前 1

Have Google, will travel.

https://www.foxnews.com/story/f-16-accidentally-fires-on-school
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/nyregion/warplane-strafes-a-school-in-new-jersey.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafing_of_the_Little_Egg_Harbor_Intermediate_School
http://www.f-16.net/f-16-news-article1241.html

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Mike R 2 年以前 1

Thanks, but as I said "I've searched all over but can't find PHOTOS of the damage." The links you posted lead to text only articles. I've tried Google for this story before and it hasn't been my friend.

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James Carlson 2 年以前 1

Oops; you're right. Photos are hard to find. The only one I found was from a distance showing the police tape.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/595108561/Accidental-strafing-divides-NJ-area.html

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Mike R 2 年以前 2

No problem. The discussion motivated me to do some more looking. From what I scanned over on other forums it seems that the rounds were just solid projectiles, nothing incendiary, so the damage to the building may not have been very photogenic.

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gary messinetti 2 年以前 1

This is not supposed to happen if the gear is down as there is a switch to prevent the gun from firing!

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Steve Dietrich 2 年以前 3

Just when you think you have made something idiot proof Darwin sends the uprated idiot

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joel wiley 2 年以前 2

According to the vendor's manual, this can't happen.
Right!

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AWAAlum 2 年以前 0

I thin it's not supposed to happen for more reasons than that.

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John Cooper 2 年以前 1

WOW. That's the name of the signal (Weight On Wheels) that, among other things, kept the guns from firing when the F16 was on the ground. It must not be that way anymore.

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Peter Maas 2 年以前 1

Safety First !!!! Good thing that technician wasn't working in the Oval Office where President Trump has a RED BUTTON on his desk.

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bigbill3111 2 年以前 1

A good friend of mine retired after many years in the Air Force. He was in the fire and rescue dept. Told me about a guy with a screwdriver in his pocket working in the cockpit of a plane in a hanger. Went to get out and the screwdriver hung up in the ejection handle. Said they pretty much had to use a spatula to get him off the ceiling of the hanger.

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Peter McGrath 2 年以前 1

In the words of Steve Erkel "Did I do that?"

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Edward Bardes 2 年以前 1

This isn't the first time something like this has happened.

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Roger Curtiss 2 年以前 1

Said the mechanic, "DOH!"

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Iain Girling 2 年以前 1

Presumably he is now a “former” technician.

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sharon bias 2 年以前 1

I hate to say this, but could there possibly be a design flaw? Engineers make perfect plans all the time that don't take into account humans. A button whose placement makes perfect sense on paper is right in the way of where a human will logically put his/her hand while working. Anyone who's taken apart a PC will tell you that to replace or upgrade memory involves ripping apart all of the PC's innards. Great engineering, lousy ability to work on the product.

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Juan Ruth 2 年以前 1

This is my story and I’m sticken to it.

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Allan Bowman 2 年以前 1

Who says it was accidental? Oops or gotcha?

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jptq63 2 年以前 1

So, will they need to buy a few more planes? Seriously, what kind of bid / version would they replace the F-16(s) that are destroyed. I would think a min purchase size (guess 4 - 8 planes) and a more current version; presuming no deaths / major life changing injuries to the reported 2, might be a small blessing.....

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James Simms 2 年以前 1

I’d guess transfer some from ANG units that has/are transitioning to the F-22/F-35. Or pull some from AMARG

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chalet 2 年以前 1

The Belgians will ask AMARC to first REMOVE any and all dangerous accoutrements such as but not limited to Vulcan cannons, rails and the weapons themselves AIM9 Sidewinders, Amraams, Zunis, et all.

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Shenghao Han 2 年以前 1

First F-16 to shoot down another F-16??

(I guess there isn't many fail-safe for the gun to fire on the ground then...)

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lynx318 2 年以前 1

Friendly fire?

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Pete Goldman 2 年以前 1

3 more and he's an "ace".

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Gary Stemen 2 年以前 0

Shades of John McCain.......

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Philip Lanum 2 年以前 -3

Stop lying.
The A-4 next to John McCain's aircraft was hit by the Zuni rocket that came from a F-4. John McCain was on the receiving side of the missile.

Your perpetuation of misleading and false statements just makes you look like a fool and a troll.

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Steve Dietrich 大约 1 年以前 1

Amen - Few remember that the LA Times and other national papers came out with a story, just prior to the election where McCain was running that he was a reckless pilot who had destroyed 3 airplanes ( 1 engine came apart in flight, the flight deck catastrophe where a missile hit his airplane and a lucky shot by a N Viet gunner that sent him to the Hanoi Hilton)

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JULIAN MITCHELL 2 年以前 0

Tragic, and perfectly avoidable, and something like this will happen again, guaranteed, while humans are involved. And there was I thinking that this was a serious discussion forum, yet many of the smart ass comments disprove that silly notion.

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joel wiley 2 年以前 2

It is a forum for serious discussion. Just a low signal to noise level in recent times.

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patrick baker 2 年以前 0

here is a gigantic "no-no". there are no suitable nor satisfactory excuses for this this category of
error. Also, there is not pennance than can be done to rectify this. wRITE THE aircraft off

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mary susan watkins 2 年以前 0

improper training or not truly knowledgeable of the aircraft and its functions? the article says the "technicians" were injured,so unless they were on a suicide mission, that will come into play..

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Alan Hume 2 年以前 -1

I think this may be just another aberration of that new devil infiltrating our media these days ... fake news! I can't see how this could have possibly occurred as reported. There are too many built-in safeguards to prevent this sort of thing happening when a modern day fighter jet is sitting on the ramp.

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Ed Blanchard 2 年以前 -3

This is obviously a self-inspired story from a self-inspired “journalist”. Poor spelling and even worse grammer marks this as comedic story-telling. No military aviation would allow a loaded and active gun pod on a fueled aircraft sitting on a parking ramp. THEN, there is the disregard in this fantasy report for interlocks and safeties: Armament systems cannot be armed, much less fired, while the landing gear are down and bearing weight. Finally, there’s the issue of safery pins and their highly visible flags. And what about the accompanying photo that screams “amatuer”.

Nope- somebody snookered the news publication that printed this tripe and, unfortunately, FlighAware.

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Stu Bruins 2 年以前 6

Ed,
"Grammar"
"Amateur"
Be careful in that glass house of yours.

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8literbeater 2 年以前 1

Don't forget "FlightAware".

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James Carlson 2 年以前 3

Depending on your political leaning you can select among these alternative sources for essentially the same story. You're welcome.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/16-accidentally-blown-belgian-air-force-mechanic/story?id=58562311
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/14/belgian-mechanic-accidentally-destroys-f-16-fighter-jet-cannon/
http://www.f-16.net/f-16-news-article5127.html
https://www.rt.com/news/441017-f-16-aircraft-explodes-belgium/
https://twitter.com/BeAirForce/status/1050394683007008768
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=216189
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/10/16/belgian-air-force-mechanic-opens-fire-by-mistake-blows-up-another-f-16/
https://fox61.com/2018/10/15/belgian-f16-destroyed-due-to-accidental-cannon-firing/

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