F-16 crash leaves pilot hanging on electrical wiring

Another accident caused Belgium to have a new drop in its fighter fleet. Last year, an F-16 was destroyed while workers were working on another aircraft and accidentally fired Gatling from the jet (its machine gun). Last week, another aircraft was destroyed after an accident in France. The two occupants of the F-16BM - two-seater version of the aircraft - were successfully ejected, but one of them was hung on high voltage power lines.

According to The Aviationist, the accident happened on Thursday (19) and the Belgian F-16 was in service. The aircraft had taken off from Florennes Air Base for a navigational exercise, which took it to France. The distance between the city of Wallonia, where the air base is located, and the approximate crash site is about 780 kilometers. The F-16 would be flying at 1, 500 feet (nearly 460 meters) at the time of the crash, according to Belgian Air Force General Frederick Vansina.

Photo: Le Télégramme

According to Air Force Technology, the accident happened between the French cities of Pluvigner and Lorient. After hitting a house and falling into a field, the jet suffered a small fire. There is still no information on the reasons for the crash, but the aircraft was not armed at the time of the crash.

Although they were able to successfully eject, the two pilots had different landings. One of them managed to descend without incident; the other landed on high-voltage power lines operating at 250, 000 volts. The rescue operation lasted about two hours and was carried out by the French emergency services. The curious thing is that the pilot even spoke on the phone while hanging on the wires. He received a call from General Vansina while waiting for the rescue.

The accident will be investigated by the Belgian Ministry of Defense.

Photo: Le Télégramme