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| Date: | Wednesday 31 January 2024 |
| Time: | 08:41 |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-16C |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force - USAF |
| Registration: | 89-2013 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 61 nm NW of off Gunsan, South Korea, Yellow Sea -
 Pacific Ocean
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
On 31 January 2024, the mishap pilot (MP), flying a F-16C, 89-2013, assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron (35 FS), “the Pantons,” 8th Fighter Wing (8 FW), Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, conducted a routine training sortie as part of the wing’s local readiness exercise BEVERLY MORNING. Approximately 40 minutes after at 08:00 a.m. Korea Standard Time
(KST) takeoff, the MP ejected from the mishap aircraft (MA). The MA was destroyed upon impact in the Yellow Sea at approximately 08:41 a.m. KST, 61 nautical miles (nm) northwest of Kunsan Air Base. The mishap resulted in the loss of a $25,764,648.00 United States government asset.
The mishap flight (MF) was planned and authorized as a training mission within local training airspace. The MP was flying as the fourth aircraft in a 4-ship formation. During the air refueling portion of the mission, MP was fourth to refuel from a KC-46 aircraft. The prevailing weather was clear with no clouds in the refueling airspace. The MP accomplished three successful contacts with the KC-46, onboarding approximately 1,700 pounds of fuel. On the third contact attempt with the KC-46 aircraft, MP heard a loud bang inside the MA. The MP separated from the KC-46 aircraft to monitor the condition of the MA. Coincident with separating, MP noticed low engine revolutions per minute (RPMs), and high fan turbine inlet temperature (FTIT) causing the MA to be unable to maintain airspeed and altitude. Unable to maintain
airspeed, the MP descended the MA to maintain 250 knots airspeed. The MP attempted multiple restarts of the engine without success, and determined the MA would not be able to fly to a nearby runway to land the aircraft. The MP continued to descend to 1,500 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) to gain airspeed to perform a final climb to 2,000 feet AGL. Once the MA reached approximately 2,000 feet AGL, the MA successfully ejected 30 nm west of Seosan Airfield, Republic of Korea.
The Accident Investigation Board President found by a preponderance of evidence the cause of the mishap was an engine stall due to hardware failure. The initial engine stall was unrecoverable by the MP after several attempts to restart the engine from 24,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) to approximately 8,000 feet MSL. MA displayed unreliable and inaccurate data with multiple failure indications. The MP ejected over water from the MA. The MA crashed into the Yellow Sea and was never recovered.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240131003751315
https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=183434
https://www.facebook.com/KunsanAirBase/posts/pfbid02zH9AZK6DDNgiRWBM5DLEzaJPT6qq5aX3gUTg6KAfvUU1mMRbdcZDZ99xKDUp18qUl
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Jan-2024 08:42 | gerard57 | Added |
| 31-Jan-2024 08:42 | gerard57 | Updated [Date, ] |
| 31-Jan-2024 08:43 | gerard57 | Updated [Source, ] |
| 31-Jan-2024 08:44 | gerard57 | Updated [Source, ] |
| 31-Jan-2024 11:28 | harro | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 31-Jan-2024 11:30 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, Source, ] |
| 23-Aug-2025 16:29 | ASN | Updated |
| 23-Aug-2025 16:29 | ASN | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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