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We lost one today. Pilot is ok.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>(Shaw Air Force Base) April 5, 2006 - An F-16 from Shaw Air Force Base crashed Wednesday about 30 miles off the coast of South Carolina.

The fighter jet crashed around 5:40pm. At the time of the accident, it was participating in a training mission. One person was on board.

Another F-16 was flying at the time. That pilot says he saw the airman eject from the crashing plane with a good chute.

Circling the scene, the pilot watched the airman hit the water.

At this point Shaw says they don't know whether the pilot survived, and that the Coast Guard is on the scene trying to rescue the airmen.

It's too early to tell why the plane crashed.

A board of officers will investigate the accident
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Fender

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."
George Bernard Shaw

Heh, a waterdart.

There's a new twist. <img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

Glad the pilot's ok.

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<b>"One post, One Kill".</b>

Update:
(Shaw Air Force Base) April 5, 2006 - The Coast Guard says the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet that crashed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean about 35 miles off Myrtle Beach has been found alive.

Petty Officer Bobby Nash says the pilot, Captain Ted Shultz with the 55th Fighter Squadron, was found about two hours after the crash. He appeared to be in stable condition. He was picked up by a Navy ship, then taken by coast guard helicopter to MUSC.

Air Force Lieutenant Bryan Cox says the jet was on a training mission from Shaw Air Force Base when it went down around 5:40pm. Lt. Bryan Cox says, "It's an intense thing. It's a last-ditch effort. Basically, a pilot says they are giving up on this aircraft."

Lt. Cox says they don't know why the $30 million jet went down. There will be an independent accident board investigation, but that's not the focus right now, according to Lt. Cox, "Right now, it's the safety of the pilot. You can replace an aircraft, but you can't replace a pilot."

A board of officers will investigate the accident.

It was almost exactly a year ago when another Shaw F-16 crashed. And it was almost the exact same scenario as Wednesday's crash.

The F-16 was on a routine training mission when the pilots reported there was something wrong with the engine. Minutes later, the pilots ejected. The plane crashed in a marsh in Charleston.

The people who saw it all happen say that's a miracle the pilots were able to walk away from the fiery crash, virtually unharmed. The crash was later determined to be a maintenance error.

After last year's crash, the F-16s were grounded for routine inspections. On a normal day, fighter jets at Shaw Air Force Base take off for training missions about 40 times a day.

Fender

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."
George Bernard Shaw

They were flying in...THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE?!?!??!?!<img src=newicons/saevil.gif border=0 align=middle>

Seriously though, glad the pilot was found OK.

"Slow is Fast - Fast is Slow"

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The pilot, Capt Shultz, is alive although the news is reporting he sustained broken legs and a broken wrist. I will post more info as it becomes available.

Fender

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."
George Bernard Shaw

single engine, over water, Lawn(Water)dart history= bad situation waiting to happen. Glad he's OK, too. So, how deep is it 30 miles out? It lived, it died, it buried itself. QED <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

The Second Amendment: America's original homeland security.
Ya just can’t take life too seriously, because you aren’t going to get out of it alive anyway.

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will plow for those who do not.\"
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