ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 230289
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| Date: | Tuesday 29 October 2019 |
| Time: | 19:06 |
| Type: |  Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | 90-0755 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 95 miles SE of Alamogordo-Holloman AFB (HMN/KHMN), NM -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Alamogordo-Holloman AFB, NM (HMN/KHMN) |
| Alamogordo-Holloman AFB, NM (HMN/KHMN) | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On the evening of 29 October 2019, a flight of three F-16 aircraft departed Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico (NM) at 18:26 hours local time for a routine night training mission. At approximately 19:06, the accident aircraft, an F-16C Block 42, tail number 90-0755, assigned to the 314th Fighter Squadron at Holloman AFB, NM, crashed on privately-owned land approximately 95 miles southeast of Holloman AFB. The aircraft was completely destroyed upon impact. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by a United States Army helicopter from Fort Bliss, Texas.
The mishap mission was scheduled as an instructor continuation training sortie to maintain night vision goggle low-altitude navigation currency. The mishap flight was appropriately planned on a local low-level instrument route flying over southern New Mexico and western Texas. All members of the flight were instructor pilots and were current and qualified in all elements
of the mission. Approximately 40 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft, while flying the number three position in a trail formation, experienced catastrophic engine failure resulting in an uncontrollable engine fire at low altitude leading to the pilot’s decision to abandon the aircraft.
The Board President found, by a preponderance of the evidence, the mishap was caused by the catastrophic failure of the engine resulting from the failure to install the 1st Stage Rear Air Seal during overhaul of the engine’s Inlet Fan Module by depot-level maintenance personnel at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma in September 2016. Without the 1st Stage Rear Air Seal, the 2nd Stage Fan
Blades eventually migrated forward until the excessive strain of operation resulted in the liberation of 2nd Stage Fan Blades, leading to a significant loss of thrust, and an uncontained engine fire fueled by a perforated A-1 fuel tank. Additionally, the Board President found the following factors, which occurred at the depot-level maintenance, substantially contributed to the mishap: unqualified and untrained maintenance personnel, lack of supervision, and negligent procedural practices.
The failure to install the 1st Stage Rear Air Seal resulted from a failure to follow checklist procedures by an unqualified and untrained mechanic who was not under the immediate supervision of a trainer. The failure was compounded by the mechanic trainee continuing assembly to a point where proper installation could no longer be verified, yet both the Depot Maintenance Trainer (DMTr) and Depot Maintenance Employee (DME) stamped completion anyway.
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
https://taskandpurpose.com/f16-fighting-falcon-crash-holloman
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Oct-2019 14:14 | Rumbachtaler | Added |
| 30-Oct-2019 14:34 | gerard57 | Updated [Time, Damage, Narrative] |
| 30-Oct-2019 14:36 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 30-Oct-2019 15:17 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Embed code] |
| 31-Oct-2019 02:26 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 31-Oct-2019 02:28 | RobertMB | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 30-Jul-2020 05:53 | harro | Updated [Registration, Location, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 18-Oct-2020 07:03 | rvargast17 | Updated [Time, Accident report] |
| 14-Feb-2021 18:38 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Accident report, Operator] |
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