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Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

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Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#71

Post by the-dude »

tschwimmer wrote: post #7

I took a look at the US Air Force subreddit[0] and lots of people who maintain these jets are skeptical as to the accidental nature of this incident. According to several comments there are many physical failsafes that would need to be deactivated in order for this to happen. The incident occurred in Belgium but it’s hard to believe their F-16s are significantly different. [0] https://reddit.com/r/AirForce/comments/9…

Belgian nuclear plant suspected sabotage : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doel_Nuclear_Power_Station#201...

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#72

Post by late2part »

jnurmine wrote: post #40
Tharkun wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are not difficult political questions. The US through NATO are forcing Belgium to buy F35s, and that'll be that. Out of all the jets allegedly in the running, only F35s can be used to drop US nukes. The very same US nukes which have been sitting around in Belgium for decades. The worst best kept secret in the country. No politician is willing/allowed to go on record about this, so they all pretend other jets ar…

It sure is silly to buy an expensive military plane if one cannot produce all parts including the engines domestically... how is hauling spares from across the Atlantic going to work in a hot situation?

This happens all the time. A country sells weapon systems to a second country, but will only maintain them if the relationship stays to the former's liking.

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#74

Post by metaphor »

Jerry2 wrote: post #31
chx wrote: post #25

https://www.resetera.com/threads/technician-accidentally-fir... here's someone claiming to be an F-16 weapons technician posting and -- they needed to do something stupid or the weight-on-wheels switch needed to malfunction.

> they needed to do something stupid or the weight-on-wheels switch needed to malfunction. Actually, the F-16 has a switch to override the 'weight on wheels' (WOW) safety for the weapons. It's used for doing checks and maintenance on the ground. Switch was probably flipped and it did what it was supposed to do. You can see the procedure here: http://aviationandaccessories.tpub.com/TM-1-1510-224-10/css/...

The reference cited is from the wrong airframe.

The correct manual for Belgian F-16s will be either a GS (general system; theory of operations) or JG (job guide; step-by-step procedural instructions) technical order of the form T.O. 1F-16AM-2-x where x = [system][GS or JG]-[subsystem]-[manual].

If memory serves correct, F-16 WOW switch override is strictly an external affair and cannot be performed from the cockpit.

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#75

Post by jules »

rutgerv wrote: post #26
girvo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would the possible motive be for doing this on purpose, do you think? Also thanks for the best beer ever

Could always be a personal conflict with other technicians/personnel, of course - or a curious form of sabotage. However, on the political front, renewing the F16s in Belgium has been a point of some controversy. The other EU countries (and the US, through the NATO) expect us to stay up to date with military hardware, but Belgian politicians are hesitant to actually spend the money, as it puts the budgets under heavy…

Sabotage is possible. Several people in EU militaries have joined ISIS.

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#76

Post by hcrisp »

Jerry2 wrote: post #28

This reminded me of Taffy Holden, UK's RAF technician, who in 1966 accidentally took off in Lightning after making an error. English Electric Lightning was one of the fastest fighter jets of its time. > The account has been widely published across the internet, but we make no apology for running the story here, as it’s a fascinating tale and it’s good to hear the original account of how Taffy Holden, an RAF Engineeri…

On a related note, I saw a video at the Pensacola Naval Air Museum of the USS Forrestal fire. Not a maintenance error, but an electrical anomaly caused a Zuni rocket on a McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom to fire, striking an external fuel tank of a A-4 Skyhawk. The flammable jet fuel spilled across the flight deck, ignited, and triggered a chain-reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. Future Senator John McCain was on deck and barely escaped the flames.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#77

Post by claydavisss »

nradov wrote: post #69
noir_lord wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even we (the UK) can't (or least couldn't at the time) get access or permission to modify the source code on the F-35 and we (as a minor but only Level-1 project partner) partially build it. IIRC the only country that can is Israel and they got a specific exemption. Honestly I find the way our government rolls over to the US frustrating at times, As the customer we should hold a firmer line - flip side is though that…

The UK government boxed themselves into a corner by designing their new aircraft carrier to only handle STOVL aircraft. And the only such aircraft available is the F-35B. If they had designed their carrier with catapults like the French did then they would have had a couple other aircraft options, and thus more negotiating power.

More to the point, Lizzie was designed around the F35 specifically (as the captain proudly declares in many YT videos)...

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#78

Post by claydavisss »

ElBarto wrote: post #37
AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #9

As a Belgian I find this hilarious. This might be the most Belgian thing ever. By the way they are investigating whether this was an accident or on purpose. The chances of this being an accident are quite small.

I find it sad that European airforces buy so many US planes.

any worse than the fact the many host the USAF at permanent bases?

the UK, Italy, Germany...all have permanent military bases for the USA...they're practically garrisoned

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#79

Post by EngineerBetter »

jules wrote: post #75
rutgerv wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could always be a personal conflict with other technicians/personnel, of course - or a curious form of sabotage. However, on the political front, renewing the F16s in Belgium has been a point of some controversy. The other EU countries (and the US, through the NATO) expect us to stay up to date with military hardware, but Belgian politicians are hesitant to actually spend the money, as it puts the budgets under heavy…

Sabotage is possible. Several people in EU militaries have joined ISIS.

Source?

Re: Belgian Air Force F-16 destroyed by fire during maintenance

#80

Post by Merad »

gear54rus wrote: post #32

Woah, what kind of burst was that? Surely it couldn't have lasted more than a second or so (while the jump-scare wears off of the technician :) yet the plane is torched. Thought they are a bit more resilient.

As the other reply said, even if the gun was just triggered for a fraction of a second it's likely that several dozen shells were fired. I'm not sure if NATO uses the same cannon rounds as the US military, but they almost certainly use some form of high explosive incendiary ammo.
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