Suspected plane crash turned out to be F-16 drop tanks

NovemberEcho

NovemberEcho

Dergs favorite member
One landed in a parking lot and damaged several cars. Are there procedures about when it’s ok to drop tanks over a populated area?


www.9and10news.com

Falling debris from military plane hits Tawas Bay

On July 31 West Branch troopers and Iosco County law enforcement responded to 911 calls of a plane crash in the Tawas Bay at about 1:50 p.m. It is now confirmed that the disturbance was from debris from a military plane that fell into and near the bay.
www.9and10news.com www.9and10news.com
 
NovemberEcho said:
One landed in a parking lot and damaged several cars. Are there procedures about when it’s ok to drop tanks over a populated area?


www.9and10news.com

Falling debris from military plane hits Tawas Bay

On July 31 West Branch troopers and Iosco County law enforcement responded to 911 calls of a plane crash in the Tawas Bay at about 1:50 p.m. It is now confirmed that the disturbance was from debris from a military plane that fell into and near the bay.
www.9and10news.com www.9and10news.com
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It’s okay when the emergency procedure calls for it.
 
Yah, how much of the aircraft would have to come down in the lot before it’s a plane crash.

Theseus’ droppe tanks.
 
Minuteman said:
Yah, how much of the aircraft would have to come down in the lot before it’s a plane crash.

Theseus’ droppe tanks.
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Fun fact, I don't know about the USAF, but in the USN, if you intentionally punch tanks or other ordnance in the course of executing an emergency procedure (I forget the actual verbiage, but that is the gist), it isn't even considered a mishap, even if the tanks themselves would trip the class B mishap threshold.....we have the fancy carbon fiber ones in the Super Hornet/Growler now, unlike the all metal ones we had in the Hornet, so they are close to a million each IIRC. We used to chuck the old ones on the Hornet into the Persian gulf like it was a sport.....
 
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I believe this happened in the North Vegas area some years ago during Red Flag when a British jet had an emergency after taking off from Nellis.
 
GROUND FIGHTERS AND EXTERNAL FUEL TANKS!!!!



Or just understand these are the very things that keep us from being subjects rather than citizens. I still consider the F-16 as a fairly capable fighter although I'm not a military strategist. Regardless, the folks flying these things need to push the envelope in peacetime or training so they're familiar if things get skippy and it really matters. That goes for the dispatch, MX, the pilot and anyone else that was involved. Was the pilot planning on landing with two drop tanks?
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Drop Tanks Matter.
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I'm sure a local coffee shop will be selling a cartoon depiction sticker or cup of the incident soon. I would too, but it would probably be more complimentary than derogatory. But that's just me. I say this because I stopped at a coffee shop with a lovely lady the other night and they had cups and stickers apparently celebrating some sort of scofflaw on a bicycle that had been surreptitiously stealing from people in the dark of night. I don't understand the celebration of criminals.
 
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///AMG said:
Fun fact, I don't know about the USAF, but in the USN, if you intentionally punch tanks or other ordnance in the course of executing an emergency procedure (I forget the actual verbiage, but that is the gist), it isn't even considered a mishap, even if the tanks themselves would trip the class B mishap threshold.....we have the fancy carbon fiber ones in the Super Hornet/Growler now, unlike the all metal ones we had in the Hornet, so they are close to a million each IIRC. We used to chuck the old ones on the Hornet into the Persian gulf like it was a sport.....
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Yep, I remember building new ones all the time. The old ones leaked like a mofo too.
 
knot4u said:
That goes for the dispatch, MX, the pilot and anyone else that was involved. Was the pilot planning on landing with two drop tanks?
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I wish we had DX'ers in the military. Life would be much easier. Really only applicable for a cross country flight, rather than a typical local area sortie where you takeoff and land at the same place and fly a canned IFR route to the SUA. But on those cross countries or ferry flights, its all on us. Which means basically "hey new guy, go find us a route, file it, get the weather brief, pull the notams, grab us all the approach plate books we'll need for everyone in the flight, load all the mission cards, make the kneeboard cards, call the airports and make sure they have contract gas (and PPRs for any mil field), and we'll see you in the morning at the brief" :) What could go wrong haha.....

actually, normally they do just fine with all of this. I've never had an experience where whoever did the planning had anything to do with why it went sideways. We've got no ACARS, and the first time you know that a field has deteriorated below the forecast and is no longer legal, is about 100 miles or so when you can start picking up the ATIS. And then it is a really fun phone game with ATC trying to figure out where the hell to go with none of the information at your fingertips (no iPads).
 
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