It’s the second U.S. F-16 crashing in less than a month.
An F-16 assigned to the 49th Wing out of Holloman Air Force Base crashed during an evening training flight on Oct. 29, 2019. The pilot successfully ejected before the impact and is now being treated at a local hospital.
According to the release, the mishap happened at 7:16 PM LT, approximatively 80 miles to the southeast of Holloman. The Air Force started an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. No additional details were provided about the pilot or the F-16 involved.
Statement from Holloman AFB about the F-16 crash from last night, pilot ejected and is being treated at a local hospital. No additional details pic.twitter.com/xJCheIsiv3
— Brian Everstine (@beverstine) October 30, 2019
Holloman AFB, in addition to the MQ-9s of the 49th Wing, hosts the 54th Fighter Group and its three fighter squadrons, the 311th FS “Sidewinders” and the 314th FS “Warhawks” flying the F-16C Block 42 and the 8th FS “Black Sheep” flying the F-16C Block 40. The group is a detachment of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, tasked with the training of new F-16 pilots, and was reactivated at Holloman as the 56th Wing is transitioning to the F-35.
The base also hosts the QF-16 drones, nicknamed “Zombie Viper”. The converted F-16 replaced the aging QF-4 drones which were retired in 2016.
Less than a month ago, at the beginning of October, another F-16 crashed near Spangdahlem AB (Germany).
