TH-cam has decided to demonetize videos of accidents that show "a strong moment of impact," regardless of context. I produce this channel because I believe that transportation safety is enhanced through transparent and accessible disclosures of the facts. If you find value in this channel's content, please consider supporting my work by clicking "Join" and becoming a channel member today. There is no difference in perks between membership levels; join at a level that is comfortable for you. Rather than overcommitting, my promise to members is that I will continue to produce this channel's unparalleled content, just as I have for the better part of a decade. You don't have to do anything, and this channel is not going anywhere. I appreciate you all. You make this channel possible. Regarding this F-16 accident, the complete accident report is available at rwp.yt/march.
its time we all start getting off TH-cam. theyre fascist tyrants who censor everything and demonetize everyone for the dumbest reasons. I used to follow a guy who did paint hydro dipping. one day he dipped a wooden handle from a pistol. ONLY the handle and they demonetized him for it
I think I’d be ok with a mostly intact F-16 landing in my garage and not catching on fire, just as long as they let me keep it. Glad the pilot got out safely
Seeing the plane go from a safe nose-down attitude toward the ground prior to ejection then rise and sail toward population after, must've been hard for all involved. I hope the minor injuries sustained were quick to heal for all. On a side note, the warehouse did a fine job catching the plane almost whole. 👍🏻
No it makes sense if you look at the physics behind it. The nose of the aircraft just lost several hundred pounds of weight on ejection thus became nose light which threw W&B off hence a short term recovery. Also that wasn't a "safe" nose down attitude as the aircraft started to go out of control at 300 feet AGL with an uncommanded 40 degree right bank. He ejected at 250 feet AGL. Nothing much safe about that.
@@Stubbies2003 this! 250 sounds like a high-ish altitude for non aviators, but at those speeds it’s REALLY close to the bad hard stuff! I’ve never flown anything other than parachutes and paragliders, but even for me anything less than 1,000agl you’ve gotta be realistic, committed and understand what you’re doing and why cos even with them them floor comes up and bites you FAST if you make mistakes! Flying is safe, it’s the speed and angle of your landing you need to worry about! 🤣😂🤣👍
When there’s no insurance involved and the USAF is taking full responsibility it’s amazing how fast things get out back to probably better than before.
I work less than a mile from the crash site, and I always think to myself how incredible it is that there were no fatalities. The amount of traffic in that area, along with businesses, warehouses and people is just incredible to believe no one was killed. I always feel for the pilot and air traffic control that in those moments they were just praying that no one was hurt.
Thank god the pilot was able to get close enough back to the Air Force base before he lost all hydraulic pressure and ended up ejecting. I remember being outside my house when I saw him fly over my house at a pretty low altitude (didn’t think at the time there was an emergency happening) which would have been bad if he lost hydraulic pressure over a really heavy residential area.
I remember when VF-11 lost aircraft 211 during the 2000 deployment on the Eisenhower CVN-69. At the time I was an aviation hydraulic and structural mechanic with VF-143 and deployed with them. All we heard initially heard was a Tomcat, aircraft 11 had gone down, we had 111. So we were all pretty concerned as to which command had lost their bird. Thankfully both pilot and RIO ejected and were recovered safely. Her flight hydraulic system had failed and she began to partially roll and yaw in growing oscillations as the pilot tried all he could to save her before having to punch out. Damn I miss those days. Anytime Baby!!
@@markpirisky2281 … approach speed in an F-16 is approx. 150 KIAS. That’s still impressive. Go plow your car into a structure at 150 kn and let me know how it looks after that
This is cool! This crash happened at my base and I was actually involved a little bit in the investigation that followed! I am a hydraulic systems mechanic in the AF. A lot of my friends and coworkers were on the CDDAR team that recovered the aircraft from the warehouse.
@@KlLLERROBOT99 the way it came down was kinda flat and the soft roof of these pop up warehouses we have out here, plus the fact it basically landed on a giant pile of cardboard boxes really helped break the fall!
Why did the pilot activate the EPU (Hydrazine) so early? There was no electrical power loss anyway. If both a and b hydraulic systems fail and you turn on your EPU, you will lose that little hydraulic fluid left in the system and pressure that is still needed for a safe landing. Maybe on final I had activated it. Just a thought. The EPU also drives a hydraulic pump, so there is some extra oil in the system. The very good thing is that no injuries were reported Yes I also flew in F16 Block 10 (40 years ago)
I remember this day as I live just north of March Field, and this was a bigger miracle than you realize... While the plane wasn't in control once the pilot left (hence the comment on the radio of "I hope it doesn't' land on the freeway", this happened during rush hour so it was very busy as you see in the video at 1:07) the real miracle is when it impacted the warehouse it didn't hurt or kill anyone. If I remember correctly(trying to find a link to the article I read on the incident), at the time it was an custom auto parts warehouse, and the manager plus a co-worker had just been standing where the plane impacted and had JUST LEFT THE AREA when it hit. If they had waited 30 seconds they would have been right under it when it impacted. Add to that the fact that the F-16 was loaded with a 'standard' armament including missiles... this could have been very worse. The 215 freeway that runs between March Field and the warehouse was closed down for a few days to allow them to move the missiles to a safe area to destroy them, so the area was a mess for a while.
At the end of the flight, it looks like the malfunction caused the pilot to suffer from PIO. Once he ejected and let go of the controls, the jet settled back and flew away
Very good on the pilot for making sure so many times that they knew the EPU was activated. I don't know if the tower understood why, but that's a big deal.
I sincerely hope that the pilot survived and landed safely 🙏? Many years ago I was in hospital after a high velocity impact, in the next bed to me was a pilot who had ejected from his aircraft and the ejection had turned him into a vegetative state for several months. Each time I was in hospital getting each of my 37 rebuild medical operations, I always thought of him in RAF Wegberg. Hospital early 1980s. All Armed Forces, Veterans and our families who accompanied us on our postings at home and abroad plus our family pets deserve our love and support. Shame on our countries politicians and civil servants for failing their Duty of care and support our people whom take their Oath of Allegiance seriously to the Reigning monarch and their family and to our British and Commonwealth countries. PS, whilst based in Germany during the Cold War, we had many military aircraft crash, one or two accidents we had to guard had strange occurrences, one pilot ejected and landed in a German banks back yard, the jet crashed into a nature park near Monchengladbach hardter wald. Later an American A10 aircraft crashed at Ramstein Air Base, we spent all of December guarding the area.
These things usually aren't the fault of the technicians, they're process and/or engineering issues. The best design is a part that you cannot install correctly.
I haven’t read the report but I have worked hydraulic back shop in the Air Force. We test all our parts on a test stand using maintenance manuals before we tag them and put them back into the supply system. That yellow tag we put on a part is crucial for the end user maintainers who trust us that we are supplying them a properly installed and serviceable part.
@@jochenheiden Thanks for the insight, so where do you think the failure in the part or installation happened (going off of the summary provided in the video description)??
@@BruceGinkel depends on if they followed the book and if they actually tested the part properly after reassembly. If they did all they and it still failed then it’s 100% a process issue or a TO deficiency and that can’t be blamed on the technicians.
That was the right pilot in the seat that day, far to many would’ve lacked the decision making for the immediate ejection and rode it out of the envelope. Glad what matters worked out in the end.
He was SO close to bringing his aircraft home intact! Am no expert on the F-16 but considering he lost control shortly after dropping the gear it makes you wonder if doing so caused hydraulic pressure to drop dramatically causing the loss of control. Would be interesting to see if he hadn't dropped his gear up pressure have been maintained all the way to a gear up landing? Not that it matters as I doubt many pilots would have the information necessary to be able to make such a call.
I just want to say you do such a good job. Its a shame youtube punishes you and others for spreading knowledge. They dont truly understand the work that goes into gathering footage, documents, audio and etx then putting it together is a good format like you do. Miss your videos for sure.
I live very close to Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM. I watch F16s flying training sorties almost every day. (would they be considered sorties?) Anyway, I love the roar as they very frequently fly very nearly directly over our home near the mountains. Many Patriots in the area. We pray for their safety every day.
Grateful and thankful to be alive. I remember the day in this thing landed on me but wait, we can’t talk about it because the government has already said there’s nothing wrong. ( there is more video footage of this).
Yep, referred to as the cornfield bomber, was a F102 Delta Dagger if I remember correctly. Pilot ejected but the aircraft just kept going until it ran out of fuel then glided in for a landing.
Matthew Greene: agreed, and also I personally believe the excessive radio chatter was a contributing factor (distraction causing loss of situational awareness). Had he kept a lighter touch on control inputs , the forces may not have overwhelmed the hydraulic system pressures ability to exert influence over the control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, rudder, etc), but he was man-handling the stick, due to too much radio chatter, consequently lost control. This is just my amateur armchair opinion (I am not a real pilot ).
Those comms were a complete shitshow with all that civilian chatter stepping all over them like that. They should have switched frequencies or put out a broadcast over the net for everyone else to shut the hell up so they could process an emergency situation.
The mishap report is as clear as mud as to how the O-rings and retainers were deformed. Not enough pictures.......such as......properly installed O-rings compared to mishap O-rings. Things of that nature. A wide shot of the entire assembly showing where the discrepant part goes. And why was system A and system B BOTH affected. The aircraft had been flying for 31 years. Those components must have been overhauled or changed out several times. How could it have gone so wrong this time? It passed it's bench tests. Passed installation tests. Flew ten times before the mishap. Was there contamination in the hydraulic fluid? I think there are unanswered questions.
I think my first order of business would have been to get the hell off of that ATC channel and let my wingman handle that, while I was working the checklist.
Just an important side note: During the ordeal, there is considerable discussion regarding activation of the “EPU” (Emergency Power Unit). Then, when that decision is made, he instructs ATC to get the “H70 team” activated. That’s because H70 is the fuel used by the APU. H70 is “70% Hydrazine” a HIGHLY flammable fuel used to power the APU. Moreover, it is HIGHLY TOXIC to humans. Once on the ground, a highly trained team is required to power down the unit and safely disconnect its fuel source without allowing leakage. This is why it is exceedingly important to STAY AWAY from ANY military aircraft accident sites. Especially those whose aircraft like the F16 use Hydrazine to power their EPUs. It is NASTY stuff. Great job on the pilot and his wingman for getting the aircraft under control well over a populated area while on approach. He did the best he could with the cards he was dealt.
Ron: *Working* "Hey, Steve. Whats up?" Steve: *Working* "Not much, just finishing up this roun-" *Plane crashes in the side of the building* Both Ron & Steve: 💀"Hey, Tom. You're back early."💀 God: "Hows it goin' fellas? All 3 of you are right on time."
Low hydraulics pressure would explain why it went wonky on landing, when the airspeed drops too low the lack of 'forward' force on the control surfaces would allow them to move freely by external forces. The sudden nose up from the loss of weight in the cockpit puts force on the elevators and putting them back in a position where the plane flies off normally for a little bit till it stalled and dropped through the roof of that warehouse. It almost looks like it went nose first into that building, got stuck cartoon style and then flopped down on it's belly breaking off its nose and then dropped through the roof leaving the nose behind in the ceiling.
I LOVE the F-16...it's my plane of choice in DCS. But I really wouldn't like one landing in my living room. lol...that suuuuuucks for the warehouse owner!!
@@Stubbies2003 The aircraft was essentially at landing speed when it came down through the roof of the warehouse, so it didn’t hit the warehouse any harder than it would hit the runway. Decelerated a lot faster.
Fly by wire. Loss of hydraulic pressure means control surface deflection was impaired so once the canopy was shed, additional drag slowed the ac down to allow reduced control surface forces the ability to land.
Glad nobody on the ground was injured. That would have been pretty demoralizing as the pilot knowing you punched out and left your aircraft to drift into innocent bystanders. Must have been a huge relief when he knew nobody was killed as a result of his action.
I'm kinda curious why the aircraft flew okay for a while then shtf. You would kinda think this would be noticed shortly after becoming airborne. I need to read the whole accident report to see if they comment.
besides the six prior flights without incident until the pilot noticed the irregularity with his hyds and then the aircraft warned him of an issue his flight to that stage had also been without incident. This leads to a natural conclusion that the seals didn't give way on that ISA until the MP was already in the air.
As to they why it seemed to recover for a short bit after ejection think about how much weight the nose of the aircraft just lost thanks to that ejection and what that does to W&B of the aircraft. Nothing surprising with what we saw and no seeing that doesn't mean the pilot ejected too soon.
Was on the lake that day, saw 2 A10s fly over and land, saw 1 F16 land and saw the other (mishap aircraft) fly over and seemingly depart. Saw the smoke plume after and realized holy shit!
The accident report says there was a small fire but apparently went out quickly. Some of the materials in the warehouse and some of the empennage had soot on them
Damn, so close to safety! You could see the runway even if the HUD were off and the blurry camera was all you had, when watching this clip. If only he had 2 more minutes before hydraulic failure at the end, this could have been a rough, but successful landing. But, any landing you can walk away from, plane or no plane . . .
@@Stubbies2003 Ram Air Turbine - basically a an airscoop that drops into the airflow to redirect a bit onto the EPU blades. MX guy I know told me once a RAT wouldn't work on the -16 cos the plane is inherently unstable at low speeds, and a RAT's pressure would be reduced (making less power) at the same time. So they went with Hydrazine because it burns so hot and fast it produces high pressure nitrogen to spin the blades. Don't think it would have made any difference here anyways - the EPU wasn't the cause of the mishap's loss of control. Makes me think the Air Force should have told Lockheed to put instructions on which way a valve was supposed to go on the damned widget. Disclaimer: I am not MX. Or USAF. I defer to someone who's actually gotten their hands dirty on them.
@@StyxRiverGynoid Yeah in this case it wouldn't have made any difference what so ever. The lack of hyd pressure to run the surfaces caused this thanks to the valve misseating so nothing the pilot could have done to change the outcome.
@@Stubbies2003 I read the report. What got to me was - this thing passed all its tests. It had 16 hours flight time with no issues before. From the conclusion, the Board determined there were no procedures in place to verify the 2 valves had been installed correctly beyond what was done - but it was because no-one thought there should be. BZ to all you who work MX, cos I think Mr Murphy visits all of you a lot more than he does us :P
So did it turn out improper maintenance? Was it a squadron level, or Intermediate maintenance (US Navy talk) This should not have happened. Now, things happen, they do, but this is why the Military teaches you from day 1 "Attention to Detail" From folding your underwear, to wearing your uniform, etc.... You have manuals with text and pictures and you have QA (Quality Assurance" to sign off saying it is safe, good to go and inspects the components. Everybody makes mistakes but what happens if this happened and the ejection seat rockets didn't blow, I've seen this happen on a F-14. Just glad it turned out OK.
Yeah, improperly installed hydraulic check valves. The full accident report is in the video description if you want to see it. There was also no process to spot that they'd installed the check valves in the wrong way, which contributed. Miracle nobody died, really.
@@noecarrier5035 Ok, if there is no illustration on how or which way the valve goes, I know you can't see it once you put it in but you can sure see how it goes BEFORE you insert it. How come this doesn't happen on every F-16 if you can't see how to properly insert it. Some Airmen are getting it right. This comment has nothing to do with you it's just my opinion. THX HAPPY THANKSGIVING
@@parapsychologist5402 This mistake was made at an overhaul facility not on the flight line. No Airmen in the mix on this one just civilian contractors and not so great TOs on this one.
@@parapsychologist5402 Per the mishap report the check valves can be not fully seated even when the correct amount of torque is used. This caused a small gap where the retaining ring and O-ring are, allowing them to degrade over time. Because the degradation takes time, the incorrectly seated check valve passed the pressure test done immediately after it was seated, But as time passed small bits of the O-ring would come off eventually allowing hydraulic fluid to leak. Turns out that time was about 10 1/2 sorties or 14+ flying hours.
It is not an APU but an EPU. The F-16 doesn't have an APU. The only time it ever uses the hydrazine is if the pilot needs it and the engine isn't operating enough to run it via bleed air. Thus the hydrazine is VERY rarely used.
Bob. Bob! Did you place an order for an F16, because we've just had a delivery? In all seriousness, that must have been one hell of a ride. Almost made it too.
There should probably be a self destruct charge to detonate after the crew ejects and is away from the aircraft, to prevent it from potentially going on for miles and coming down who knows where.
That's what I was thinking! Damn... Was a firefighter for many years and that was the one thing I hated. So much chatter it would just cancel out the freq. Dangerous as hell.
I find it hard to believe that these are the cameras we are still using on our military jets! I can get a better picture out of the $100 tablet I am using to watch this footage.
TH-cam has decided to demonetize videos of accidents that show "a strong moment of impact," regardless of context. I produce this channel because I believe that transportation safety is enhanced through transparent and accessible disclosures of the facts. If you find value in this channel's content, please consider supporting my work by clicking "Join" and becoming a channel member today.
There is no difference in perks between membership levels; join at a level that is comfortable for you. Rather than overcommitting, my promise to members is that I will continue to produce this channel's unparalleled content, just as I have for the better part of a decade. You don't have to do anything, and this channel is not going anywhere. I appreciate you all. You make this channel possible.
Regarding this F-16 accident, the complete accident report is available at rwp.yt/march.
Thank you for being real and making important yet entertaining content! 😊♥️
its time we all start getting off TH-cam. theyre fascist tyrants who censor everything and demonetize everyone for the dumbest reasons. I used to follow a guy who did paint hydro dipping. one day he dipped a wooden handle from a pistol. ONLY the handle and they demonetized him for it
Props. TH-cam is hopeless
Thank you. The level of communication is stunning.
I think I’d be ok with a mostly intact F-16 landing in my garage and not catching on fire, just as long as they let me keep it. Glad the pilot got out safely
You and your family will not be ok with the hydrazine though.
@@beardymcbeardface69 What does F-16 use hydrazine for? APU?
“Mom can we have F-16?” “No we have F-16 at home” “Holy shit what the fuck your actually right”
@@NonEuclideanTacoCannon Yep, APU. Whenever an F-16 has to enable it's APU, there's a big response for specialist cleanup. Nasty stuff.
You'd be rich for starters
Plot twist: warehouse is a check-valve wholesalers.
Seeing the plane go from a safe nose-down attitude toward the ground prior to ejection then rise and sail toward population after, must've been hard for all involved. I hope the minor injuries sustained were quick to heal for all. On a side note, the warehouse did a fine job catching the plane almost whole. 👍🏻
✌🏽👏🏽👏🏽🫶🏽
No it makes sense if you look at the physics behind it. The nose of the aircraft just lost several hundred pounds of weight on ejection thus became nose light which threw W&B off hence a short term recovery.
Also that wasn't a "safe" nose down attitude as the aircraft started to go out of control at 300 feet AGL with an uncommanded 40 degree right bank. He ejected at 250 feet AGL. Nothing much safe about that.
Surprised there wasn't a fire.
@@Stubbies2003 this! 250 sounds like a high-ish altitude for non aviators, but at those speeds it’s REALLY close to the bad hard stuff! I’ve never flown anything other than parachutes and paragliders, but even for me anything less than 1,000agl you’ve gotta be realistic, committed and understand what you’re doing and why cos even with them them floor comes up and bites you FAST if you make mistakes!
Flying is safe, it’s the speed and angle of your landing you need to worry about! 🤣😂🤣👍
@@j0m4m46 Fuel dump prior to landing or he was low on gas already.
I drive by the warehouse this jet crashed into every single day and you would never know it happened. They put the building back together good as new.
I mountain bike here all the time, never even saw the damage.
When there’s no insurance involved and the USAF is taking full responsibility it’s amazing how fast things get out back to probably better than before.
I think I'd have painted a target on that side of the building after the repair. Maybe have the mishap pilot come sign it.
@@matthewellisor5835 oh most definitely I would have some fun with that! A target painted on there is hilarious
@@Mr.Thermistor7228 or a picture mural of the plane crash on the side...with the illusion the crash was still there!!!
I work less than a mile from the crash site, and I always think to myself how incredible it is that there were no fatalities. The amount of traffic in that area, along with businesses, warehouses and people is just incredible to believe no one was killed. I always feel for the pilot and air traffic control that in those moments they were just praying that no one was hurt.
Half-stoned and was like “what the fuck is housing and urban development doing with a fighter jet?”
Thank god the pilot was able to get close enough back to the Air Force base before he lost all hydraulic pressure and ended up ejecting. I remember being outside my house when I saw him fly over my house at a pretty low altitude (didn’t think at the time there was an emergency happening) which would have been bad if he lost hydraulic pressure over a really heavy residential area.
I remember when VF-11 lost aircraft 211 during the 2000 deployment on the Eisenhower CVN-69.
At the time I was an aviation hydraulic and structural mechanic with VF-143 and deployed with them.
All we heard initially heard was a Tomcat, aircraft 11 had gone down, we had 111. So we were all pretty concerned as to which command had lost their bird. Thankfully both pilot and RIO ejected and were recovered safely.
Her flight hydraulic system had failed and she began to partially roll and yaw in growing oscillations as the pilot tried all he could to save her before having to punch out.
Damn I miss those days.
Anytime Baby!!
Is it just me, or is anybody else absolutely amazed at how intact the aircraft was after it hit the ground? (RyanAir pilots disregard this comment) 🤣
Absolutely. Plane landed itself so to speak..
Probably because he was on approach, therefore slower speed.
The building full of boxes cushioned the landing
@@markpirisky2281 … approach speed in an F-16 is approx. 150 KIAS. That’s still impressive. Go plow your car into a structure at 150 kn and let me know how it looks after that
All RyanAir landings are “mostly intact.”
Well...I guess we can say that an F-16 with a malfunctioning hydraulic system and no pilot parks *no worse* than your average BMW...
This is cool! This crash happened at my base and I was actually involved a little bit in the investigation that followed! I am a hydraulic systems mechanic in the AF. A lot of my friends and coworkers were on the CDDAR team that recovered the aircraft from the warehouse.
Hey brother how you doing, retired Army here. I gotta ask how did the aircraft manage to stay so intact even after hitting a warehouse?
Hey buddy remember me?
@@KlLLERROBOT99 the way it came down was kinda flat and the soft roof of these pop up warehouses we have out here, plus the fact it basically landed on a giant pile of cardboard boxes really helped break the fall!
Can you say what component or components failed and cost an F16?
@@jochenheiden Very interesting, thx
This crash was mostly peaceful
Why did the pilot activate the EPU (Hydrazine) so early? There was no electrical power loss anyway. If both a and b hydraulic systems fail and you turn on your EPU, you will lose that little hydraulic fluid left in the system and pressure that is still needed for a safe landing.
Maybe on final I had activated it. Just a thought.
The EPU also drives a hydraulic pump, so there is some extra oil in the system. The very good thing is that no injuries were reported
Yes I also flew in F16 Block 10 (40 years ago)
I feel like the ejection video got cut too soon at 1:07. Perhaps we could have seen a few more seconds of that
Great job here. The jet landed into that building almost intact and no fires were a godsend.
I remember this day as I live just north of March Field, and this was a bigger miracle than you realize... While the plane wasn't in control once the pilot left (hence the comment on the radio of "I hope it doesn't' land on the freeway", this happened during rush hour so it was very busy as you see in the video at 1:07) the real miracle is when it impacted the warehouse it didn't hurt or kill anyone.
If I remember correctly(trying to find a link to the article I read on the incident), at the time it was an custom auto parts warehouse, and the manager plus a co-worker had just been standing where the plane impacted and had JUST LEFT THE AREA when it hit. If they had waited 30 seconds they would have been right under it when it impacted. Add to that the fact that the F-16 was loaded with a 'standard' armament including missiles... this could have been very worse. The 215 freeway that runs between March Field and the warehouse was closed down for a few days to allow them to move the missiles to a safe area to destroy them, so the area was a mess for a while.
At the end of the flight, it looks like the malfunction caused the pilot to suffer from PIO. Once he ejected and let go of the controls, the jet settled back and flew away
The fact that aircraft didn't fully breakup and explode is quite amazing and very lucky
I mean no one was in it so whatever
@@matthewgreene4050 if it blew up the whole building would be ruined
all the development into protecting pilots from combat damage. there are multiple fire preventing systems
Just finished wrapping all those pallets and a plane dropped on it boss
Very good on the pilot for making sure so many times that they knew the EPU was activated. I don't know if the tower understood why, but that's a big deal.
That's because it runs on hydrazine, right? Like the APUs on the Shuttle. Toxic threat for anyone on the ground rushing to assist.
@@noecarrier5035 Yes.
The tower knows. We’re trained about hydrazine, at least if you work F16s routinely.
It isn't important for the tower to know the why of it just that it is an issue so they can get hazmat and fire involved on the recovery.
Does fuel systems still respond to h70 activations
I sincerely hope that the pilot survived and landed safely 🙏? Many years ago I was in hospital after a high velocity impact, in the next bed to me was a pilot who had ejected from his aircraft and the ejection had turned him into a vegetative state for several months. Each time I was in hospital getting each of my 37 rebuild medical operations, I always thought of him in RAF Wegberg. Hospital early 1980s. All Armed Forces, Veterans and our families who accompanied us on our postings at home and abroad plus our family pets deserve our love and support. Shame on our countries politicians and civil servants for failing their Duty of care and support our people whom take their Oath of Allegiance seriously to the Reigning monarch and their family and to our British and Commonwealth countries.
PS, whilst based in Germany during the Cold War, we had many military aircraft crash, one or two accidents we had to guard had strange occurrences, one pilot ejected and landed in a German banks back yard, the jet crashed into a nature park near Monchengladbach hardter wald. Later an American A10 aircraft crashed at Ramstein Air Base, we spent all of December guarding the area.
You'd know if you watched the video before commenting
So close to getting it down...
Wow. Whoever improperly installed those hydraulic valves was going to have to answer some hard questions. Lucky no one was killed on the ground.
These things usually aren't the fault of the technicians, they're process and/or engineering issues. The best design is a part that you cannot install correctly.
I haven’t read the report but I have worked hydraulic back shop in the Air Force. We test all our parts on a test stand using maintenance manuals before we tag them and put them back into the supply system. That yellow tag we put on a part is crucial for the end user maintainers who trust us that we are supplying them a properly installed and serviceable part.
@@jochenheiden Thanks for the insight, so where do you think the failure in the part or installation happened (going off of the summary provided in the video description)??
@@BruceGinkel depends on if they followed the book and if they actually tested the part properly after reassembly. If they did all they and it still failed then it’s 100% a process issue or a TO deficiency and that can’t be blamed on the technicians.
@@BruceGinkel So kind of an "engineer vs. architect" kind of thing so to speak?
That was the right pilot in the seat that day, far to many would’ve lacked the decision making for the immediate ejection and rode it out of the envelope. Glad what matters worked out in the end.
He was SO close to bringing his aircraft home intact! Am no expert on the F-16 but considering he lost control shortly after dropping the gear it makes you wonder if doing so caused hydraulic pressure to drop dramatically causing the loss of control. Would be interesting to see if he hadn't dropped his gear up pressure have been maintained all the way to a gear up landing? Not that it matters as I doubt many pilots would have the information necessary to be able to make such a call.
I just want to say you do such a good job. Its a shame youtube punishes you and others for spreading knowledge. They dont truly understand the work that goes into gathering footage, documents, audio and etx then putting it together is a good format like you do. Miss your videos for sure.
I live very close to Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, NM. I watch F16s flying training sorties almost every day. (would they be considered sorties?) Anyway, I love the roar as they very frequently fly very nearly directly over our home near the mountains. Many Patriots in the area. We pray for their safety every day.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.
It’s absolutely amazing that no one was killed in this incident.
That wharehouse was the socal Taco Bell distribution center I remember going to Taco Bell and they had no food because of the jet. Lmfao
My dad, he's a TV repairman. He's got an ultimate set of tools, I can fix it
Grateful and thankful to be alive. I remember the day in this thing landed on me but wait, we can’t talk about it because the government has already said there’s nothing wrong. ( there is more video footage of this).
There was some event back in the 50s or 60s where a pilot punched out in the aircraft ended up landing itself in a cornfield
Yep, referred to as the cornfield bomber, was a F102 Delta Dagger if I remember correctly. Pilot ejected but the aircraft just kept going until it ran out of fuel then glided in for a landing.
Fact: Planes crash better without pilots
Well not this one. no fiery explosion, no mass casualties, no wreckage littered for miles etc etc. 2/10 Go back and start again
There's not a small number of commercial aviation disasters that could have been averted if the pilots literally just didn't touch anything.
Amazing a true professional calm cool collected and getting the job done God bless him
Crazy the number of radio channels he has to listen to. He has civilian, military, and I think even a third on top of the standard emergency.
Matthew Greene: agreed, and also I personally believe the excessive radio chatter was a contributing factor (distraction causing loss of situational awareness). Had he kept a lighter touch on control inputs , the forces may not have overwhelmed the hydraulic system pressures ability to exert influence over the control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, rudder, etc), but he was man-handling the stick, due to too much radio chatter, consequently lost control. This is just my amateur armchair opinion (I am not a real pilot ).
Those comms were a complete shitshow with all that civilian chatter stepping all over them like that. They should have switched frequencies or put out a broadcast over the net for everyone else to shut the hell up so they could process an emergency situation.
The mishap report is as clear as mud as to how the O-rings and retainers were deformed. Not enough pictures.......such as......properly installed O-rings compared to mishap O-rings. Things of that nature. A wide shot of the entire assembly showing where the discrepant part goes. And why was system A and system B BOTH affected. The aircraft had been flying for 31 years. Those components must have been overhauled or changed out several times. How could it have gone so wrong this time? It passed it's bench tests. Passed installation tests. Flew ten times before the mishap. Was there contamination in the hydraulic fluid? I think there are unanswered questions.
I think my first order of business would have been to get the hell off of that ATC channel and let my wingman handle that, while I was working the checklist.
Thank God everyone survived!👍👍💚
Just an important side note: During the ordeal, there is considerable discussion regarding activation of the “EPU” (Emergency Power Unit). Then, when that decision is made, he instructs ATC to get the “H70 team” activated. That’s because H70 is the fuel used by the APU. H70 is “70% Hydrazine” a HIGHLY flammable fuel used to power the APU. Moreover, it is HIGHLY TOXIC to humans. Once on the ground, a highly trained team is required to power down the unit and safely disconnect its fuel source without allowing leakage. This is why it is exceedingly important to STAY AWAY from ANY military aircraft accident sites. Especially those whose aircraft like the F16 use Hydrazine to power their EPUs. It is NASTY stuff.
Great job on the pilot and his wingman for getting the aircraft under control well over a populated area while on approach. He did the best he could with the cards he was dealt.
All the wannabe hot shot sofa pilots making comments are hilarious
I have almost 3000 hours in a pleather sectional with dual recliners.
A unexpected shipment just came into the loading zone folks 😂
Good thinking for his common sense about setting the eject on due to hindsight.❤
Remarkably good shape after that landing. Strong is the F-16.
I was in that warehouse! This footage makes me sick to my stomach
Glad you're ok
Ron: *Working* "Hey, Steve. Whats up?"
Steve: *Working* "Not much, just finishing up this roun-"
*Plane crashes in the side of the building*
Both Ron & Steve: 💀"Hey, Tom. You're back early."💀
God: "Hows it goin' fellas? All 3 of you are right on time."
Great footage.. I'm glad the pilot is good to go..
34 year old airframe...she was getting close to the total redball...
Low hydraulics pressure would explain why it went wonky on landing, when the airspeed drops too low the lack of 'forward' force on the control surfaces would allow them to move freely by external forces. The sudden nose up from the loss of weight in the cockpit puts force on the elevators and putting them back in a position where the plane flies off normally for a little bit till it stalled and dropped through the roof of that warehouse.
It almost looks like it went nose first into that building, got stuck cartoon style and then flopped down on it's belly breaking off its nose and then dropped through the roof leaving the nose behind in the ceiling.
Never leave your wing man.
You don’t know what you are talking about…the lead pilot needed to land first before his emergency wingman didn’t shut down the runway.
That was a near perfect crash landing. Most of the jet was still intact. This allowed for an easier investigation of the problem.
I think that whistling sound toward the end is the hydraulic pump cavitating
$3,900,000 in “environmental cleanup”? What am I missing here, seems excessive!
$20000 bucks to clean up the mess. $3,880,000 to pay to friends of the politicians & bureaucrats…
Yep
It's California. Everything's more expensive.
Those things have some nasty substances in it.
Once again, depot level maintenance screwed The pooch 😢
I LOVE the F-16...it's my plane of choice in DCS. But I really wouldn't like one landing in my living room. lol...that suuuuuucks for the warehouse owner!!
DCS is pretty great
Imagine you’re just chillin at work and all a sudden an f16 comes through the building.
I personally know this pilot. He is an awesome man and great pilot.
I'm confused? Is that F16 actually sitting on its gear in the hangar?
the gear was lowered for landing
@@jumpingjeffflash9946 yes I get that but I find it hard to believe the aircraft touched down on its gear after the ejection?
@@Turbo442 coming down with a sink rate like that would have crushed the gear. They aren't built to withstand those levels of force.
@@Stubbies2003 NOT navy compatible
@@Stubbies2003 The aircraft was essentially at landing speed when it came down through the roof of the warehouse, so it didn’t hit the warehouse any harder than it would hit the runway. Decelerated a lot faster.
That’ll buff right out.
Mom, I want an F16 for Christmas ;-D
Well I know where there's one in a warehouse...
storage owner walks into a shocked employee and says Why we have not boxed the f16 order yet? you are fired.
Stroke 4 Status!
Unfortunately, I don't think the U.S. Government adheres to the law of "Finders Keepers"
They do when it comes to asset forfeiture of people. Ha ha.
The Ghost of Kiev Chicken
Thank you Egress Shop. Job well done!
Thank God for Martin Baker.
@@tonyv8925 ACES II
How much do these cost to build and maintain? And this is the quality of cameras they are using???
This is the quality of video you as a civilian get to see not the quality of video that is recorded
Fly by wire. Loss of hydraulic pressure means control surface deflection was impaired so once the canopy was shed, additional drag slowed the ac down to allow reduced control surface forces the ability to land.
I believe that will buff right out…
Nice, barely a scratch
Glad nobody on the ground was injured. That would have been pretty demoralizing as the pilot knowing you punched out and left your aircraft to drift into innocent bystanders. Must have been a huge relief when he knew nobody was killed as a result of his action.
Amazing that it did not catch fire
Gotta have gas to catch fire :) j/k
There was a small fire but it went out quickly
Well done ... all participants!
What's that old sayin, Any landing you walk away from Is a Good landing. $30 mill down the drain.
How the F are the cleanup costs $4,000,000????
I'm kinda curious why the aircraft flew okay for a while then shtf. You would kinda think this would be noticed shortly after becoming airborne. I need to read the whole accident report to see if they comment.
Nope had 6 prior flights to this incident the part that failed was overhauled incorrectly
besides the six prior flights without incident until the pilot noticed the irregularity with his hyds and then the aircraft warned him of an issue his flight to that stage had also been without incident. This leads to a natural conclusion that the seals didn't give way on that ISA until the MP was already in the air.
As to they why it seemed to recover for a short bit after ejection think about how much weight the nose of the aircraft just lost thanks to that ejection and what that does to W&B of the aircraft. Nothing surprising with what we saw and no seeing that doesn't mean the pilot ejected too soon.
Was on the lake that day, saw 2 A10s fly over and land, saw 1 F16 land and saw the other (mishap aircraft) fly over and seemingly depart. Saw the smoke plume after and realized holy shit!
real surprised to see it didn't burn on crash.
The accident report says there was a small fire but apparently went out quickly. Some of the materials in the warehouse and some of the empennage had soot on them
Damn, so close to safety! You could see the runway even if the HUD were off and the blurry camera was all you had, when watching this clip. If only he had 2 more minutes before hydraulic failure at the end, this could have been a rough, but successful landing. But, any landing you can walk away from, plane or no plane . . .
I would be out the second the flight control does not respond anymore fully to my inputs.
Great arresting barrier engagement
Does an f-16 have a RAT?
You'd be better off to actually spell out the acronym RAT if you want an answer. I worked on the aircraft and that means nothing to me.
@@Stubbies2003 Ram Air Turbine - basically a an airscoop that drops into the airflow to redirect a bit onto the EPU blades. MX guy I know told me once a RAT wouldn't work on the -16 cos the plane is inherently unstable at low speeds, and a RAT's pressure would be reduced (making less power) at the same time. So they went with Hydrazine because it burns so hot and fast it produces high pressure nitrogen to spin the blades.
Don't think it would have made any difference here anyways - the EPU wasn't the cause of the mishap's loss of control. Makes me think the Air Force should have told Lockheed to put instructions on which way a valve was supposed to go on the damned widget.
Disclaimer: I am not MX. Or USAF. I defer to someone who's actually gotten their hands dirty on them.
@@StyxRiverGynoid Yeah in this case it wouldn't have made any difference what so ever. The lack of hyd pressure to run the surfaces caused this thanks to the valve misseating so nothing the pilot could have done to change the outcome.
@@Stubbies2003 I read the report. What got to me was - this thing passed all its tests. It had 16 hours flight time with no issues before. From the conclusion, the Board determined there were no procedures in place to verify the 2 valves had been installed correctly beyond what was done - but it was because no-one thought there should be.
BZ to all you who work MX, cos I think Mr Murphy visits all of you a lot more than he does us :P
Wild, was that an old C model? Those planes are getting past their service life.
Yeah, why aren't they flying F-15s?
@@j0m4m46 ... F-15s are older than F-16s....
@@Stubbies2003 F-15Cs are, F-15Es aren't.
ANG typically had the older models and airframes while active duty had the newer stuff
Another great packaging
@ 17:28 a nice view of the flat ground as usual.
So did it turn out improper maintenance? Was it a squadron level, or Intermediate maintenance (US Navy talk) This should not have happened. Now, things happen, they do, but this is why the Military teaches you from day 1 "Attention to Detail" From folding your underwear, to wearing your uniform, etc.... You have manuals with text and pictures and you have QA (Quality Assurance" to sign off saying it is safe, good to go and inspects the components. Everybody makes mistakes but what happens if this happened and the ejection seat rockets didn't blow, I've seen this happen on a F-14. Just glad it turned out OK.
Yeah, improperly installed hydraulic check valves. The full accident report is in the video description if you want to see it. There was also no process to spot that they'd installed the check valves in the wrong way, which contributed. Miracle nobody died, really.
@@noecarrier5035 Ok, if there is no illustration on how or which way the valve goes, I know you can't see it once you put it in but you can sure see how it goes BEFORE you insert it. How come this doesn't happen on every F-16 if you can't see how to properly insert it. Some Airmen are getting it right. This comment has nothing to do with you it's just my opinion. THX HAPPY THANKSGIVING
@@parapsychologist5402 This mistake was made at an overhaul facility not on the flight line. No Airmen in the mix on this one just civilian contractors and not so great TOs on this one.
@@parapsychologist5402 Per the mishap report the check valves can be not fully seated even when the correct amount of torque is used. This caused a small gap where the retaining ring and O-ring are, allowing them to degrade over time. Because the degradation takes time, the incorrectly seated check valve passed the pressure test done immediately after it was seated, But as time passed small bits of the O-ring would come off eventually allowing hydraulic fluid to leak. Turns out that time was about 10 1/2 sorties or 14+ flying hours.
Why does the F-16 use a hydrazine powered APU when its fuel is so toxic to all concerned?
It is not an APU but an EPU. The F-16 doesn't have an APU. The only time it ever uses the hydrazine is if the pilot needs it and the engine isn't operating enough to run it via bleed air. Thus the hydrazine is VERY rarely used.
for a jet crash it's remarkably still intact lol
Bob. Bob! Did you place an order for an F16, because we've just had a delivery?
In all seriousness, that must have been one hell of a ride. Almost made it too.
There should probably be a self destruct charge to detonate after the crew ejects and is away from the aircraft, to prevent it from potentially going on for miles and coming down who knows where.
Damn thing went straight BF4 after he ejected... Building looks more damaged than the plane...
A few scratches- that will buff out.
Your a security guard you get a notification of a break and enter you go to find the suspect and it's a plane just chilling there in the building
Glad he didn’t let it crash into a populated area?😮
Do you even get cellphone service at 11,000 altitude?
Too bad that the comms can't be isolated from ATC traffic. Hard to hear what he is saying.
That's what I was thinking! Damn...
Was a firefighter for many years and that was the one thing I hated. So much chatter it would just cancel out the freq. Dangerous as hell.
Storage now has almost full F-16)
I find it hard to believe that these are the cameras we are still using on our military jets! I can get a better picture out of the $100 tablet I am using to watch this footage.
Looks like it can fly again
Who signed off the Hyd OH....... it has to go through QA and bench test.
with all the radio chatter walking on each other how can you tell what the heck is going on
Damn all this cross talk is driving me insane