Image: U.S. Air Force
The Air Force on Friday released its investigation (PDF) of a midair collision of two F-16s in Kansas last fall, citing a student pilot’s loss of visual contact and an instructor’s misperception of a turning maneuver. The two F-16Cs, from the Tulsa Air National Guard Base, were flying a training exercise with a third fighter near Moline on Oct. 20. The student did not see the collision as his right wingtip missile and five feet of the right wing “sliced through” the other jet’s right wing root, according to the Air Force report. He was able to land safely at Tulsa International Airport while the other pilot ejected and suffered minor injuries.
The instructor, who had more than 2,400 hours of F-16 time, reported he thought the other aircraft had turned to the right, when it had turned left. When he saw the belly of the student’s F-16 and realized they were on a collision course, he attempted an avoidance maneuver. The Air Force’s accident summary notes that “viewing an F-16, 1.5-2 NM away, rotating either toward or away from you, and similar in color, top and bottom can be misperceived,” as the pilot reported. The investigation also cited a lack of proper communication between the two pilots and stated that the student,who had 106 hours in the F-16,was likely task-saturated. “Based on (his) relative inexperience, he may have been overwhelmed by having to make a number of nearly simultaneous decisions,” the report said.
