F-16 & Cessna mid-air over SC

[TacAirCoug]

F-16 pilot seems to have ejected safely, fingers crossed for survivors from the Cessna.

Air Force Fighter Jet Collided With Private Plane: FAA

An Air Force F-16 fighter jet and a Cessna private plane collided on Tuesday about 11 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Defense officials told NBC News that reports indicate the military pilot safely ejected from the F-16 before it crashed.

The status of the Cessna or anyone aboard was not immediately known.

Edited July 7, 2015 by TacAirCoug

[DFRESH]

Picture on twitter of a shooter's tail, and an interesting picture of a nozzle parked against a trailer in a trailer park. Bros in the area say viper drive is okay.

[Sim]

few photos from the site (not by me)

https://imgur.com/a/0vg70

[Whitman]

I'm happy the F16 pilot got out alive, but deeply saddened by the likely outcome of the general aviation pilots involved.

Crash occurred about 5nm SE of KMKS.

Bad week for Shaw AFB in the news. 3 ship low pass over Greenville Downtown last week had a lot of locals very angry.

https://www.foxcarolina.com/story/29433013/fighter-jets-spotted-over-greenville

Question for the Shaw or Charleston pilots. Are there any low level routes near Moncks Corner, SC where the F-16 usually operate? The midair occurred well outside of the Gamecock MOA. I've got a friend who flies his Bonanza and J-3 Cub out of KMKS and he's asking if he should be aggressively scanning for military at low altitude outside of the MOA now because he's never done so in 40 years of flying.

[moosepileit]

Floor of Gamecock Delta MOA is 10k msl and both the MOA and nearby IR and VRs are north of Moncks Corner, except IR18.

As CAP-10 pointed out below- I never flew that one- guess liveATC.net bears a listen. 5 miles south of KMKS and you to the outer ring of CHS class Charlie.

If either went right in under the point of impact is question 1.

Glad the ejection worked.

Used to fly GA and Mil there.

Edited July 7, 2015 by moosepileit

[Cap-10]

Not sure if Shaw uses it, but IR-18 goes South to North on the NW (6 miles) side of CHS, passes just East (approx 1nm) of MKS, then makes a 45 left over Lake Moultrie.

If my memory serves me, we (USAF) should be avoiding all airports by 1500/3 while on low levels.

[Whitman]

Not sure if Shaw uses it, but IR-18 goes South to North on the NW (6 miles) side of CHS, passes just East (approx 1nm) of MKS, then makes a 45 left over Lake Moultrie.

If my memory serves me, we (USAF) should be avoiding all airports by 1500/3 while on low levels.

IR-18 looks to be the closest. Eye witness reports say the planes were at 300 ft but we all know how reliable witness accounts are. The SIB will look at all this and I'm sure we will all learn something and it won't be repeated.

In the mean time, thanks for the info, I'll pass it to GA pilot friends in the area. I learned to fly at KMKS and never saw F-16's or C-17's this close to the airport so this is just a huge surprise to all of us. Prayers for the families involved.

[stract]

The TFR is centered right on a Victor airway, as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bobby]

Strangely I just saw the pilot's name and picture released during the NBC nightly news...kind of unusual so early in an investigation, especially one that may evolve into litigation.

[Prosuper]

Picture on twitter of a shooter's tail, and an interesting picture of a nozzle parked against a trailer in a trailer park. Bros in the area say viper drive is okay.

It's a GE.

[HossHarris]

Strangely I just saw the pilot's name and picture released during the NBC nightly news...kind of unusual so early in an investigation, especially one that may evolve into litigation.

He wasn't injured, no next of kin to notify, etc.

[Bobby]

He wasn't injured, no next of kin to notify, etc.

I get that, but just not used to seeing surviving incident aircrew names publicly released mere hours after the accident. Just a bit odd in my opinion.

[stract]

The F-16 was on an instrument-training mission into Joint Base Charleston.

"All the facts at this point indicate that the pilot was talking to air traffic control ... when the accident occurred," said Col. Stephen Jost, commander of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, where the pilot is based.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/us/south-carolina-aircraft-incident/index.html

[Beaver]

Looks like he was on a low level commonly known as "radar downwind."

[Smokin]

https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/us/south-carolina-aircraft-incident/index.html

Sure, the lady interviewed just happened to be looking up and saw both the F-16 and the Cessna prior to impact and then witnessed the impact itself. She needs to be an air traffic controller or a JTAC with that visual ability. Amazing how news outlets just put whoever claims to know anything about an accident on TV.

[mudhen69]

Sure, the lady interviewed just happened to be looking up and saw both the F-16 and the Cessna prior to impact and then witnessed the impact itself. She needs to be an air traffic controller or a JTAC with that visual ability. Amazing how news outlets just put whoever claims to know anything about an accident on TV

https://artists.letssingit.com/jeff-foxworthy-lyrics-nasa-alabama-and-fishin-shows-vd4vm8l#axzz3fH5kv1fh (go to 1:21)

[Clark Griswold]

Is it likely the HUD tape would have survived the impact?

[ViperStud]

It depends. We're using DVRs now, not tapes. I've seen HUD video from crashed jets (like the Fresno jet that pancaked), but if the impact was violent enough to to send little memory chips in a hundred different directions, then probably not.

[Clark Griswold]

It depends. We're using DVRs now, not tapes. I've seen HUD video from crashed jets (like the Fresno jet that pancaked), but if the impact was violent enough to to send little memory chips in a hundred different directions, then probably not.

Copy that - thanks

[brewskis]

If anyone is on the AOPA Facebook page, there is a hate fest going on about military pilots. It's entertaining, but there is a very sad level of knowledge on military special use airspace among many of the posters there.

[stract]

please provide link - I just looked on their page and didn't see anything, so maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

[brewskis]

Try the AOPA Members page. I guess it's not the official AOPA page. I'd post the link, but I'm already 3 deep at a Mexican cantina in Alabama and am sucking at Al Gore's internet right now.

[stract]

rog. EvilEagle is on the AOPA forums and the convo seems to be pretty civil here: https://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=95873

ETA: that AOPA members page on FB says this: "Aviation enthusiasts from all over the world, whether or not they are AOPA members.*** Please Note *** This group is neither affiliated with nor managed by AOPA." and it's a closed group, of which I'm not a part.

Edited July 9, 2015 by stract

[ARIs 'R' Us]

As a military and former civilian IP, I can say the ignorance lies on both sides. That said, MOAs are not taught as no fly zones, just "avoid if it's convenient."

After UPT, I couldn't believe all the stuff I got away with as a civilian knucklehead.

[MD]

As a military and former civilian IP, I can say the ignorance lies on both sides. That said, MOAs are not taught as no fly zones, just "avoid if it's convenient.".

The ignornace is on both sides. I've seen it firsthand on both end; in fact, just dealt with it with a military A-10 guy a number of months back, as well as a civilian person; both on airspace issues that both were ignorant of.