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F-16 Crashes Near March Air Reserve Base

https://ktla.com/2019/05/17/pilot-ej...emains-closed/

Quote:

Pilot Ejects Before F-16 Crash Near March Air Reserve Base; 215 Freeway Remains Closed

Posted 5:32 AM, May 17, 2019, by CNN Wire and Anthony Kurzweil, Updated at 05:34AM, May 17, 2019

F-16 Crashes Near March Air Reserve Base

The 215 Freeway remained closed in both directions Friday morning after an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a warehouse just off March Air Reserve Base in Perris the day before.

The pilot ejected before impact just off the end of the runway, Maj. Perry Covington said. The pilot was taken to a hospital to be checked out but has no major injuries, said base spokesman Reggie Varner.

Varner said the F-16 had a hydraulic failure which led to the crash Thursday. Authorities were investigating whether anyone on the ground was hurt.

The base's fire department responded to the crash along with the Riverside police and Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

California Highway Patrol officials shut down both directions of the 215 Freeway between Harley Knox Boulevard and Cactus Avenue as first responders continued working at the scene.

Caltrans tweeted that the closure would be "long term" and asked drivers to avoid the area.

Mike Johnson, the CEO of the company located in the warehouse, confirmed all employees at the warehouse are safe.

"Thank God everyone is safe and OK," Johnson said in a statement to CNN. "We'll have to see what this means for the company, but right now our concern is with our employees and their families."

The warehouse is owned by See Water, Inc. The company offers products and solutions to HVAC, commercial, residential, utility and wastewater industries.

Air Force is being extremely tight lipped about what ordnance was onboard, and they still have a 2 mile perimeter, flight restrictions as well as a full freeway closure for an incident that happened yesterday. I'm thinking it was carrying a tactical nuke. :island14:

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Quote:

Explosive Ordnance Team Sent to Site of F-16 Fighter Jet Crash in Riverside Co.; Investigation Continues

A wide area including a freeway around an F-16 fighter jet crash site in Southern California remained off-limits Friday as military and civilian authorities investigated.

An explosive ordnance team was at the scene but officials would not say whether there were any armaments aboard the jet.

"As more information becomes available, which we expect to have later today, we will be able to release that information," Col. Thomas McNamara, vice commander of the Air Force Reserve's 452nd Air Mobility Wing, said at a news conference.

The aircraft crashed Thursday afternoon through the roof of a warehouse near March Air Reserve Base southeast of Los Angeles.

There was no explosion and no serious injuries among workers at the business.

The pilot ejected safely before the crash and was in good condition, McNamara said. The pilot's name was not released.

Authorities cordoned off an area for three-quarters of a mile (1.21 kilometers) around the scene, including a section of heavily traveled Interstate 215.

"Avoid this area at all costs," said Terri Kasinga, district spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.

No residential areas were involved, but the closure affected businesses and adjacent Riverside National Cemetery, authorities said.

"There were about 30 ceremonies that were going to take place out there today that other arrangements have had to be made," said Bruce Barton, director of emergency management for Riverside County.

The crash occurred during a training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said.

"The pilot was having hydraulic problems," he said. "He started losing control of the aircraft."

Holiday said it was a "miracle" the jet didn't cause a major fire or explosion.

Six people from the business and six deputies who entered the building to search for possible victims were hosed off due to exposure to debris.

The crash started a small fire that was quickly doused by the building's sprinklers, state fire Capt. Fernando Herrera said.

Cellphone photos and video from inside the warehouse showed what appeared to be the tail of the plane buried in twisted metal and piles of cardboard boxes.

The cockpit canopy ended up on a runway, and a parachute had settled in a nearby field.

The F-16 was under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls.

The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard.

Source

Not to worry, pilot will blame maintenance....

Very interesting that there was no fire or explosion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaski (Post 1670570)

More likely, they are trying to protect sensitive electronic and targeting packages like the LANTIRN from falling into the wrong hands.

Every time a cheap ass Raven UAV would crash in the sandbox, they’d send out a SOF Team to go find it and recover it. They didn’t want to UAVs to fall into enemy hands who would reverse engineer them or make IEDs out of the electronics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 69camfrk (Post 1670592)

Not to worry, pilot will blame maintenance....

Or Aerial Port.

We had a high visibility mission show up. That means folks well up the Chain of Command want to know steps along the way. We do our normal "Load that shit on that plane". Now since it was high vis, we had people, ie folks with big desks, showing up to watch. We load in a normal time frame. The crew dicks around and the aircraft doesn't meet the time window for takeoff. The crew then blames Aerial Port. Here comes the :Jeff '79:
Since it was a dog and pony show, the bosses knew it wasn't our fault. Guess who chuckled watching the A/C crew "Lack integrity" and get called out directly. So many times it was a finger pointing contest but this one was a slam dunk chuckle fest for the good ole Load Team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaski (Post 1670570)

It was loaded heavy with BDU-33 munitions. Every crew knows just how dangerous they are, and extreme care must be taken, especially fooling with them on a crashed plane. Just google them. I don't feel comfortable talking about them here.:leaving:

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaski (Post 1670570)

I want armed aircraft patrolling. They are the folks who know how to blow shit up and I say let them be ready for whatever may happen.

Otherwise, an unarmed fighter jet is nothing more than an expensive lawn dart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 69camfrk (Post 1670629)

:Jeff '79: