UAE F-16 Crashes

pshamim

New Member
Verified Defense Pro
One of the UAE F-16E/F crashed today. $100 million up in the smaoke. Good news is that the pilot is safe. lack of familiarity with a new system may have caused this crash.


<H3>UAE Air Force plane crashes
Jan 9, 2006 - 05:18 -

Abu Dhabi, Jan. 9, 2006 (WAM) -- An official source from the UAE Armed Forces Headquarters has said that an F16 Falcon block 60 fighter plane of to the UAE Air Force has crashed this morning. There were no casualties.

The pilot landed safely after ejecting from the crashing plane.

The source said the relevant authority has quickly opened up investigations to determine the cause of the accident

http://wam.org.ae/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_JSESSIONID=5fcbc6b03e11b4c9&pagename=WAM%2FWamLocEnews%2FW-T-LEN-FullNews&c=WamLocEnews&cid=1136743555913&p=1041248621847
</H3>
 
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Aussie Digger

Guest
Geez, that didn't take them long... As you said, $100 mil down the drain... It makes me wonder the attrition rates of some of these airforces, how good their training must really be...
 

Dr Phobus

New Member
I was reading now Vietnam crashed 3 of 16 of there flanker variants (SK/UBK) in not a lot of time, also crashed one of their sky-van's recently. There air-force is trying to invest in more training for there pilots. Again, the question of certain nations having the equipment, the weapons and the senors, but can they fight and win with them ? :confused:
 

mysterious

New Member
Maybe its time that the UAE AirForce let the PAF crew to take the lead in testing the newer F-16s, getting familiar with the systems and then training the locals as the case is next door in Saudi; so that next time, another nervous chap doesn't flush $100 mil down the drain.
 

oskarm

New Member
Aussie Digger said:
Geez, that didn't take them long... As you said, $100 mil down the drain... It makes me wonder the attrition rates of some of these airforces, how good their training must really be...
They were trained by pilots from 162nd Fighter Wing based at Tuscon (Arizona). In this unit also Polish F-16 pilots are being trained. I hope that their skills will be better to pilots from UEA. ;)
 
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Aussie Digger

Guest
oskarm said:
They were trained by pilots from 162nd Fighter Wing based at Tuscon (Arizona). In this unit also Polish F-16 pilots are being trained. I hope that their skills will be better to pilots from UEA. ;)
Being trained by a competent force doesn't in of itself make one a competent force. Indonesian "Kopassus" special forces were trained be regular Australian Army infantry personnel, during my time in the Army. Our infantry are excellent, but there's nothing "special" about them, unlike supposedly the "elite" Kopassus...
 

mysterious

New Member
I wasn't talking about the entire training course regarding their new F-16s (my bad for not making that clear).

I was referring to those small tid-bits of wisdom that you need from highly experienced pilots because they know that in the end, it is not just about what you learnt during your training session or what information you could salvage from an instructions manual; but more about how you improvise in a particular situation which presents a challenge of its own. And you can't learn that except by experience of flying those long hours.
 

fieldmarshal

New Member
less than a handfull of uae pilots are rated to fly the f-16, so i wont be surprised if an american was at the controls when the plane crashed.
But on the other hand due to the shortage of pilots uae is looking for parking space to store the f-16 in the us, who cares.:)
 

LancerMc

New Member
I wouldn't be surprised if it was mechanical failure on the aircraft. The F-16E/F is essentially a completely new airplane. When new airplanes enter service they often crash alot because things go wrong with them.
 

fieldmarshal

New Member
fieldmarshal said:
less than a handfull of uae pilots are rated to fly the f-16, so i wont be surprised if an american was at the controls when the plane crashed.
But on the other hand due to the shortage of pilots uae is looking for parking space to store the f-16 in the us, who cares.:)

latest reports indicate that it was a uae pilot flying the bird, so my apoligies to the americans
 

pshamim

New Member
Verified Defense Pro
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
PJ-10 BrahMos said:
I heard the pilot in actual fact was a Lockheed test pilot??
Now that is very strange. What is a test pilot doing in UAE.

Test pilot's job is to test the latest development in test design of an aircraft. They test the new design to see if design parameters are met. If not, suggest changes based on their long real world experiences. They also have an input in designing the new training courses and test techniques for new test pilots in the aircraft industry.

I do not think that UAE Airforce is implementing any new test designs on its aircrafts-thus no need of a test pilot in UAE.
 

hovercraft

New Member
you all are talking about the error or not of the pilot, but i think usa must be fitted a setlite controled bomb or jamming system hidden in the fuseladge of f-16 and usa tested one of them to cheak working of that ;)

is it not possible?

or may be it is error of the plane, manufacturing fault.
 
Last edited:

chrisrobsoar

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
pshamim said:
Now that is very strange. What is a test pilot doing in UAE.
The following article answers the question.


“January 9, 2006 (by Lieven) - An F-16 Block 60 of the United Arab Emirates Air Force crashed on Monday morning near Al Ain International Airport. The pilot (USAF) survived the crash but got reportedly injured after ejection.

The pilot landed safely after ejecting from the crashing plane (RE-27).

The F-16 fighter jet belonged to a team participating in Al Ain Aerobatic Show 2006, which starts tomorrow.

Eyewitnesses said the pilot was practicing for the air show around midday over a desert area close to the airport.

The plane crashed between the dunes, and emergency services rushed to the spot.

The UAE authorities started investigations to determine the exact cause of the accident”

http://www.f-16.net/news_article1587.html

“The aircraft crashed during a routine airshow demonstration flight. The pilot managed to eject safely. This is the first write-off of an UAEAF F-16E block 60. The pilot, Dan Levin - a Lockheed Martin Test Pilot - apparently entered a loop too low or had a density altitude problem. The F-16 hit the ground in full burner with a high sink rate. Fortunately Dan ejected but his chute didn't have time to fully deploy so he suffered many broken bones and a punctured lung.”

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_fighting_falcon_airframe-4535.html
 

410Cougar

New Member
Not the first time that a test pilot is behind the controls. One of the best TAC demo's I've seen online involved a Typhoon being piloted by an Italian at a UK airshow.

Test pilots, because they have already spent so many hours in the plane putting it through its paces, probably know best what the capabilities of the plane are and can display that at an airshow where there are probably several potential buyers in the crowd.

Attila
 
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