Air Force officials release F-16 accident report

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LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) --  Catastrophic engine failure caused an F-16 Fighting Falcon to crash on the flightline of Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Nov. 12, 2008, Air Combat Command officials announced March 9 here.

The $28.8 million aircraft was destroyed during impact and the subsequent fire.

The pilot, who climbed out of the stopped aircraft, was taken to the Air Force Theater Hospital on base for evaluation and had no apparent injuries. 

According to the Accident Investigation Board report, the aircraft was initiating an afterburner takeoff when the second stage disk fan failed causing fan section components to tear through the rest of the engine.

Investigation analysis of the disk showed a previously undetected sub-surface crack. The crack is estimated to be a result of the manufacturing process but showed no abnormalities that would have been cause for rejection at the time the second stage fan disk was fabricated. The metallurgical analysis could not identify a root cause for the subsurface crack.

The second stage fan disk is attached as a part of the engine fan rotor assembly as one of three stages used to drive the engine and produce thrust to achieve and maintain flight.

The plane was deployed to the 55th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Joint Base Balad in October 2008 from the 20th Fighter Wing from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

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