Misawa F-16 Floor Mishap Below Investigation, No Accidents Reported

The Air Drive is investigating a floor emergency involving an F-16 fighter jet that passed off at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Aug. 17. Nobody was injured within the mishap, and there was no impression to flight operations or business flights at Misawa Airport, which shares amenities with the bottom, a base spokesperson instructed Air & House Forces Journal.

“As we proceed to realize our deterrence mission right here on the thirty fifth Fighter Wing, we’ll prioritize secure flight operations,” stated Capt. Josephine Rios, chief of public affairs for the wing. “We are going to be sure that defending Japan and U.S. pursuits within the Indo-Pacific area stays our focus as we proceed to securely accomplish our mission at Misawa Air Base.”

Photographs of the mishap appeared on the Fb web page Air Drive amn/nco/snco on Aug. 20. The photographs present a two-seat F-16D resting precariously on a taxiway on what seems to be a belly-mounted exterior gas tank. Rios confirmed the photographs depict the emergency in query, although they’re from an unofficial supply.

The plane didn’t fly the day of the incident. When requested for a injury estimate and whether or not the F-16 may be returned to service, Rios stated the main points of the mishap are presently beneath investigation.

The mishap happens about three months after an Air Drive pilot ejected from an F-16 close to Osan Air Base, South Korea, throughout a routine coaching sortie. No accidents have been reported, although native media shops broadcasted dramatic movies of the fiery crash. That was the primary F-16 incident since March 2022, when an Oklahoma Air Nationwide Guard F-16 crashed in western Louisiana. The pilot ejected safely.

The F-16 pilots of the thirty fifth Fighter Wing at Misawa specialize within the suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses, generally often known as ‘Wild Weasel’ missions.