Thunderbirds F-16 crashes at Air Force Academy graduation! Pilot ejects safely

Type: General Dynamics F-16CM Fighting Falcon
Owner/operator: AD Sqn Thunderbirds USAF
Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities: 0
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Location: near City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (KCOS), CO - United States of America
Phase: Approach
Nature: Military
Departure airport: City of Colorado Springs Muni (KCOS)
Destination airport: City of Colorado Springs Muni (KCOS)sources
Narrative:
The F-16 operated by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds as #6, force landed to high desert terrain south of City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport/Peterson Air Force Base (KCOS), Colorado Springs, Colorado, during a flyover in celebration of Air Force Academy graduation. The pilot ejected prior to ground contact. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the sole pilot onboard was uninjured.
The mishap occurred after a flyby of the United States Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs. After beginning landing procedures, the pilot inadvertently rotated the throttle, placing it into an engine cut-off position. Normally, this full rotation cannot occur unless a throttle trigger is affirmatively actuated or pressed. However, the throttle trigger was “stuck” in the “pressed” position. The accident investigation board observed debris accumulation in the throttle trigger, combined with wear on the trigger assembly. Once the engine cut-off occurred, the aircraft immediately lost thrust.
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[@xy-pk8gb]

I flew F-16s for about 10 years. It is hard for me to believe that the pilot rotated the throttle outboard and shut the engine off inadvertently. Even with a stuck trigger it still takes a conscious effort to rotate the throttle outboard and then pull it back to the cut off position. The fact that the jet is almost intact with no fire tells me this guy ran out of gas. Long before this accident there were problems with the early Pratt and Whitney F-16 engine... they tended to quit. So our saying was "ACES II, the thrust you can trust."

[@JH-wd6dp]

In the audio, it sounds to me like the pilot said "I should probably cycle the engine off then on." Is it possible they were trouble-shooting the wrong problem?

[@xy-pk8gb]

@@JH-wd6dp Not sure which block F-16 this was. Cycling off then back on starts a start sequence on a Block 30 with the GE engine. It might also clear a compressor stall on the PW engine, not sure. At any rate he was much too low for any of this to work and regain usable thrust before getting too low to recover.

[@JH-wd6dp]

@ I appreciate the reply, and knowledge! The snippet of audio seems to indicate the engine shut-off may have been intentional, but mistaken, despite the wording of the released findings painting a different picture. Thanks again for the insight!

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

I crewed F-16's in the USAF and read the report on this, aside from the trigger being actuated and stuck there's no reason the pilot in flight would've needed to move the throttle outboard and back into cutoff.

[@jbw9999]

From 2016.

[@kevinmadore1794]

Many still believe that this aircraft ran out of fuel. The official story doesn’t make a lot of sense given the experience level of the pilot. This was also the first of 3 Class A mishaps that the team experienced within a relatively short period. The team had some serious safety culture problems around this time, which ultimately led to the next TB1 being fired.

[@donQpublic]

Fun fun fun until daddy takes the T-bird away.

[@xy-pk8gb]

This would not be the first T-Bird accident covered up by the AF. In 1982 a diamond formation of 4 T-38s all hit the ground together killing all 4 pilots. We all knew it was because the lead was too slow or too low over the top and continued the loop anyway. The AF came up with a previously unknown flight control malfunction that had never occurred before and never occured again to explain the accident. Gen. Creech, the TAC commander at the time, personally erased all of the video tape of the accident and destroyed the only two copies of the accident report.

[@rElliot09]

Have any links to your claim? I've never read or heard that was the cause, except in the initial investigation that pilot error was possible.

[@xy-pk8gb]

@@rElliot09 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Thunderbirds_Indian_Springs_diamond_crash I did have the formation wrong, they were line abreast not diamond. There is no way to prove my claim. The evidence was destroyed and the 4 pilots died. It was widely accepted in the pilot community that the lead had screwed up.

[@alalal8157]

........the pilot inadvertently rotated the throttle, placing it into an engine cut-off position.... How did he get thru training???

[@markoman5267]

The aircraft is in remarkably good condition after having crashed.

[@ImpendingJoker]

It's funny that they said this was a Class A which means total loss of airframe or death of pilot/flight crew but, I wouldn't be surprised if this was put back into service at some point as I have seen aircraft broken much more badly in person rebuilt.

[@txch3rra]

Why are you posting about this almost a decade later? The title genuinely scared me

[@AlienGamer38]

Hate it when that happens 😅

[@flightpathandfantasy]

Aces II FTW🙏🏻🫡 - AF Proud

[@tonypurkiss6022]

Once again, as a vision impaired subscriber to your channel, I don't know what happened in this episode. All the yellow writing I cannot see. You need to dictate what is on the screen to improve your channel for all subscribers, not just the ones that can See what's on the screen. Look forward to you including all subscribers to your channel to gain a better experience.

[@williamhudson4938]

I find it odd that this happened almost 9 years ago and the armchair pilots still are giving their uneducated opinions about why it happened. I ran F-16s as a Field and Service Mechanic for 19 years at the factory where the F-16 was built and yes this can happen, even on a brand new jet. Ask me how I know.

[@kevinmadore1794]

Please enlighten us. It makes little sense to some of us that an experienced F-16 pilot would pull the throttle into cutoff while in the pattern. Had that happened multiple times before? Given the scenario, these jets, particularly the two solos, were definitely low on fuel.

[@GWNorth-db8vn]

Not that it has much to do with the incident, but it's odd to hear someone called "Six" on a radio and he's not the commander.

[@812MSS]

This wouldn't have happened if Trump was president.

[@washburnb1]

I hope you are joking.

[@planck39]

@@washburnb1 No, he is serious! He assumes that a fat unfit DEI hire was the pilot?

[@hebdomatical]

Major Alex Turner was the pilot. See Wikipedia.

[@popsfereal]

29 million of taxpayer money down the shitter because of somebody being a DEI hire...