F-16 vs. Cessna 150
 

F-16 jet, Cessna airplane collide midair near Charleston SC | myfox8.com

This should be an investigation to follow. A mid air collision between a multipurpose jet fighter and a general aviation high wing with fixed landing gear.

Someone was flying at the wrong altitude...

A witness says the Cessna was climbing when hit broadside by the F-16. Pilot and passenger in the Cessna were killed, the F-16 pilot ejected and was taken to Joint Base Charleston for an assessment.

I didn't think you believed any thing that FOX reports. Why now?

With eight years experience in reporting on the Bush presidency, it's clear that Fox has great expertise in covering disasters...

Little details trickle in. Cessna was climbing after takeoff from local airport heading to Myrtle Beach. Collision may have been between 2-3,000 feet.

We need more military planes in civilian airspace.

Sure not much info available in the news on this one. Wonder why?

I wonder how fast the jet was going, why it was at that (relativley low) altitude, (being 75 miles from home & in vicinity of a civilian airport). At speed?? If he was going fast & didnt know the cessna was there, it would have already been too late by the time either one saw the other, , ,

Google shows all sorts of news, but no official gubbamint explanation yet. I like this one: "The government prohibited Cecil, his girlfriend and 8-month-old girlfriend from re-entering the damaged trailer." 8 MO GF wow! Man forced from camper after F-16 crash - WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather And this witness statement: "He come back through on a second or third fly through and out of nowhere, off the trees behind me, was a fully-armed F-16 with no markings on it, dark green, and flew straight through the plane on the left-hand side. It exploded in the air above us," Do we really fly unmarked planes over homeland? Witness to plane crash: 'It was like an eagle taking out a sparr - WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 - Charleston News, Sports, Weather

I'll be interested in seeing how it al pans out. My money is on civilian pilot error, then controller error, then Air Force pilot error.

It seems like the Cessna climbed into the path of the 16, whether due to controller directing him to, error on his part, or the 16 being in the wrong place, hopefully investigation will reveal. Just forward and under the nose is about the only place the 16 pilot can't see well from the bubble canopy, so I can see how the 16 pilot might have missed seeing him. I think if he had seen him, he's got a lot of envelope to play with, I'd imagine he could have maneuvered one way or another. It's not like trying to miss a mountain or even an airliner, 10-20 feet either way would have meant a miss.

As for the witnesses? Fully armed? The 16 can carry something like 8 tons of various armaments... The Air Force statement says it was unarmed. Are you sure you can tell a fuel tank from a bomb? Unmarked? Do you know what markings are typical, and what low-viz markings on tactical aircraft look like? Here's a hint, they're not giant bold colorful pictures and numbers, they are easy to miss at first glance. Hell, I'm kinda wondering if the plane was actually green as the witness claims...

MV