The accident is quite weird: it’s not clear why the technician was working on an armed aircraft that close to the flight line. Not even the type of inspection or work has been unveiled. For sure it must have been a check that activated the gun even though the aircraft was on the ground: the use of the onboard weapons (including the gun) is usually blocked by a fail-safe switch when the aircraft has the gear down with the purpose of preventing similar accidents.
at 6600 rounds per minute... it's a good bet to say a hundred or more were fired. 110 per second.
This isn't the gun in the A10 Thunderbolt/Warthog, that one is an Avenger 30 mm 3900 rpm gun
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/technician-accidentally-fires-vulcan-cannon-and-destroys-f-16-ground-belgium-33476
https://theaviationist.com/2018/10/14/f-16-completely-destroyed-by-another-f-16-after-mechanic-accidentally-fires-cannon-on-the-ground-in-belgium/
The link said another F-16 was damaged in the sane incident. Will he then need to nail 3 or 4 more to become an ace?
ReplyDeleteNo he is ace already, because he is the first ever european who shot down an F-16.
DeleteThat award would go to the crew of Bosnian SA-6 launcher that shot down F-16C in 1995.
DeleteA multimillion dollar junk now 😕
ReplyDeleteyup, 18 million a piece
DeleteYeah that, not to mention a host of pins securing the weapon with red streamers that have "remove before flight" printed on them. Too much experience with such things has taught me that it typically takes at least three mistakes/oversights/failures to result in a major mishap. I'll guarantee you the landing gear up and locked switch or lever was replaced and you installed incorrectly. Add to that power on an armed aircraft parked in the wrong place, mix in a technician assuming everything was safe and secure, and you get this.
ReplyDeleteok. back in 1994 or so, on of the destroyers in Pearl Harbor let loose a couple 20 or 30mm rounds into the hills... because some guy was doing preventative maintenance, and had no brains. He failed to first insure the Sea-Whiz gatling gun was unloaded. It made the local newspaper
DeleteAnother "this'll be the highlight of your miserable little career" moment.
DeleteHappened here in Denmark too in 1982: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Harpoon_missile_misfire_incident
ReplyDeleteIf you think you had a bad day at work... remember that mechanic day.
ReplyDelete