Date:	Monday 26 August 2024
Time:	08:50
Type:	General Dynamics F-16AM Block 20 Fighting Falcon
Owner/operator:	107th Separate Aviation Wing, Ukrainian Air Force
Registration:	80-3600
MSN:	B-111
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Kurhany, Rivne Raion, Rivne Oblast -   Ukraine
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 26 August 2024, a Ukrainian Air Force F-16A Block 20 MLU fighter aircraft was destroyed under unknown circumstances during a mission in response to a mass missile and drone strike conducted by forces of the Russian Federation on the same day. The accident occurred on the very first day of combat usage of the F-16 Fighting Falcon by the Ukrainian Air Force.

NASA Sentinel-2 satellite imagery shows a crash site located in the vicinity of Kurhany in Rivne Oblast. It appears that the aircraft crashed into the ground largely in one piece, resulting in one large debris site, albeit with a significant fire spread.

Various Ukrainian sources initially reported that Oleksiy Sergeevich "Moonfish" Mes of the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade had been killed during a combat mission. Mes could be easily identified as one of Ukraine's first F-16 pilots due to his frequent appearance in media. This information initially was attempted to be obfuscated, but was then more widely reported.

On 26 August, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky espoused the effectiveness of the Western origin F-16s in supposedly repelling a mass Russian strike, but made no mention of any aircraft losses.

Additionally, on 26 August, the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing of the USAF released a statement discussing upgrades they performed on the electronic-warfare systems of Ukraine's F-16s. Led by the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron, teams reportedly worked on unfamiliar EW systems, spending two weeks redeveloping systems.

The Wall Street Journal reported on 29 August 2024 that according to a U.S. official, a Ukrainian F-16 was destroyed in a crash. Following this, the loss was officially acknowledged by the Ukrainian Air Force and General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An official statement released by the General Staff read (translated):

"F-16 fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force were used together with anti-aircraft missile units during repulse of a missile attack by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. During the aerial battle, The F-16 aircraft demonstrated their high efficiency, four enemy cruise missiles were shot down by airborne weapons. During the approach to the next target, contact with one of the aircraft was lost. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot died. To find out the causes of the accident, a special military commission was appointed, which works at the site of the crash."

The loss of the aircraft was also confirmed in a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force. However, the exact cause of the crash is unclear. Official Russian sources did not mention the loss of an F-16, meaning the chance of the aircraft being shot down was low. Rather, it is more likely that the aircraft was lost as a result of friendly fire, mechanical failure or pilot error.

Maryana Bezhula, a people's deputy of Ukraine claimed that the loss of the aircraft may have been due to friendly fire. Bezuhla was formerly a member of the Zelensky affiliated party "Servant of the People", but later left the party after repeatedly criticising the Ukrainian government, as well as the Ukrainian Armed Forces of systematic corruption and incompetent command. Bezuhla stated that the aircraft was downed by a MIM-104 Patriot air defence system, as a result of a failure of identification friend or foe (IFF) systems failing, resulting in friendly-fire. This was supposedly due to poor communication between air defence and air force units. Ukrainian forces reportedly struggle with the doctrinal clash caused due to the legacy of Soviet era ground-control interception (GCI) practices, in comparison to the more fluid structure of NATO joint-forces doctrine. Bezuhla further highlighted that the death of Kapitan Andrii Borysovych "Juice" Pilshchykov, another prominent advocate of Western aircraft for Ukraine, has not been investigated in a thorough manner, despite evidence suggesting that regulation-breaking aircraft manoeuvres were performed.

See https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/344927 for further information.

The pilot Pidpolkovnyk Oleksiy Sergeevich "Moonfish" Mes of the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade was killed. Mes was one of the first Ukrainian pilots to undergo training in the F-16 Fighting Falcon, having only completed his conversion training recently. Prior to the F-16, Mes was a pilot qualified on the Ukrainian Air Force's mainstay fighter, the Soviet era MiG-29.

The aircraft was an ex Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force in early August 2024. The aircraft was formerly registered as E-600 / B-111 manufactured by SABCA in 1982.

Some Russian military blogger channels claimed that the aircraft was downed in the vicinity of the town of Dubno, Dubno Raion, Rivne Oblast, but this remains unverified. This site is noteworthy as the nearby Dubno Air Base is located to the north-east of the town. It is speculated that the base may have been reactivated after the commencement of full-scale hostilities to support the deployment of F-16 aircraft.

As a result of the aircraft loss, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Heneral-leytenant Mykola Oleshchuk on 30 August 2024. Heneral-leytenant Anatolii Kryvonozhko, commander of Central AIr Command, was appointed as acting commander.

On 5 September 2024, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Accelerated Training in the Spotlight After Ukrainian F-16 Crash". In particular it stated, according to US officials that "Kiev found no evidence that the fighter had been shot down by Ukrainian or Russian air defence systems". Furthermore, that there was also "no confirmation that the plane had crashed as a result of a malfunction." However, after this it is stated that "there is information about a Russian missile exploding near the F-16 shortly before contact with it was lost". The WSJ states:

"The explosion could have caused damage to the aircraft, forcing the pilot to maneuver at low altitude, ultimately leading to a crash".

The WSJ further highlighted concerns on the proficiency of freshly trained Ukrainian pilots. The training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s has been happening at an accelerated pace. Ukraine's pilot training program is ongoing, but "the crash shows what happens when you try to rush things," an unnamed senior defense official told the WSJ. Western officials are now discussing Ukraine's decision to use the jets on the battlefield weeks after the arrival of the first batch, sending pilots who have had limited flying hours in the U.S. aircraft on combat missions, the WSJ reported.

This is not the first time that the accelerated training of Ukrainian pilots by NATO has been questioned. In June 2023, Ukrainian pilot Major Vladyslav Mykhailovych Savieliev, callsign "Nomad" of the 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade was shot down by forces of the Russian Federation while carrying out a ground support mission using a MiG-29MU2 fighter aircraft. Savieliev had graduated from the Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University of Ukraine in 2019, with experience in flying the Soviet origin MiG-29 fighter. He then participated in Ukrainian military operations in the disputed Donbass region from 2019 to 2021. From 2021 to 2023, Savieliev participated in the United States Air Force Aviation Leadership Program consisting of English language training, as well as conversion training on the T-6 Texan II trainer, graduating in March 2023. Students also participate in the United States Department of Defence Field Studies Program and other courses “to promote better awareness and understanding of the democratic institutions and social framework of the U.S.,” according to the US Air Force. Savieliev returned to Ukraine after not flying in his old jet, the MiG-29, for at least two years, being killed in action shortly after. Some aviation commentators have noted that pilots often find it challenging to transition between Western and Soviet aircraft due to differences in language, design philosophy, cockpit layouts, avionics systems, and flight characteristics.

See https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/314958 for further information.

In late September 2024, the American based news outlet "Breaking Defense", citing insider Ukrainian sources, stated that due to the complex nature of the air environment in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force and air defence units are not actively utilising identification friend or foe (IFF) systems. A Ukrainian official reportedly stated that “different versions [of the crash] are being considered, including the ‘friendly fire’ of their air defence systems, a technical malfunction and pilot error.”

Breaking Defense states that according to Ukrainian sources, the aircraft likely collided with a Russian missile or attack drone, or the remains of one after interception. The fragments of this ordnance may have collided with the aircraft and caused critical damage, resulting in the aircraft breaking apart before the pilot could eject. It is reported that a number of other aircraft were previously lost in this manner, including 2 MiG-29 and 2 Su-27 fighters.

See the following wikibase entries for further information:
https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/277892
https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/295271
https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/279043
https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/309870

A Ukrainian official is quoted as saying "Earlier in the war we lost four other fighters to this same cause of airborne foreign objects disabling the aircraft. There were two MiG-29s and two Sukhoi models lost in this way. It is very possible that this F-16 now makes it aircraft No. 5. The previous losses did not generate this kind of attention because they were not expensive, modern fighters in the class of the American jet."

Ukrainian court records suggest the possibility of a friendly-fire shootdown, with a number of air defence combat logs, as well as recordings from the Oreanda air defence command and control (C2) system collected by investigators. An investigation under Article 416 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was opened.

Ukrainian General Staff and Ukrainian Air Force
https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU/16932
https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU/16949

https://t.me/kpszsu/18466
https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid021zRYaFyVCw5dQ8WhKpDc7vMnpQP2k18FWkMqqt2ZGeYZ44B4zu4gBCkem8KTeyDTl
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1023354813127334&set=pcb.1023336263129189

Office of the President of Ukraine
https://www.president.gov.ua/documents/6002024-52005

Ihor Polishchuk - Lutsk City Council
https://www.facebook.com/ihor.polishchuk/posts/pfbid031gHz8A9dpxHpRd476MRCHPAFheVJWF529LovEHBLH4Sdve4DysrDGxcSPkstKCukl

Press
https://www.wsj.com/world/ukrainian-f-16-is-destroyed-in-crash-4f6d66f6
https://kyivindependent.com/wsj-f-16-crash-report/
https://kyivindependent.com/breaking-f-16-fighter-jet-crashes-in-ukraine-military-confirms/
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/ukrainian-f-16-crashes-in-combat-killing-pilot/
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/ukraine-f-16-electronic-warfare-us-air-force/
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/29/europe/ukraine-f16-crashes-intl/index.html
https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20248301344-hzTKk.html
https://en.topwar.ru/249486-pressa-ssha-nezadolgo-do-togo-kak-f-16-vsu-perestal-vyhodit-na-svjaz-nepodaleku-ot-nego-vzorvalas-rossijskaja-raketa.html
https://en.topwar.ru/249514-zelenskij-na-baze-ramshtajn-zajavil-ob-jeffektivnosti-f-16-protiv-rossijskih-raket-i-poprosil-bolshe-samoletov.html
https://kyivindependent.com/after-f-16-crash-west-debates-rushed-training-for-ukrainian-pilots-wsj-reports/
https://www.wsj.com/world/accelerated-training-in-the-spotlight-after-ukrainian-f-16-crash-08cafb67
https://breakingdefense.com/2024/09/debris-and-a-deadly-mission-the-vital-context-around-ukraines-lost-f-16/
https://vikna.if.ua/news/category/all/2024/10/21/158196/view
https://24tv.ua/oleksiy-mes-istoriya-kohannya-pilota-druzhini-yuliyi-sluzhba_n2802746

Footage of Conversion Training
https://www.facebook.com/144thFighterWing/posts/oleksii-mes-ukrainian-mig-29-pilot-is-preparing-for-an-incentive-flight-in-an-f-/2339122619490006/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyP_eizMqi0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXfh_1rR3Jk

Statements from Ukrainian People's Deputy Maryana Bezuhla
https://t.me/marybezuhla/1987
https://t.me/marybezuhla/1996
https://t.me/marybezuhla/1997

ZSU AF F-16 serials
https://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/serials-and-inventory/airforce/PS%20ZSU/
https://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/870/

Ukrainian Court Records
https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/121650960

Open Source Intelligence / Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=520555340348032&set=pcb.520556773681222
https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1829188417462358172
https://t.me/don_partizan/4974
https://t.me/don_partizan/4975
https://t.me/voenacher/70731
https://x.com/MarcinRogowsk14/status/1858192259365175456
https://lostarmour.info

Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes perished in the F-16AM s/n 80-3600 (ex-Royal Danish Air Force s/n E-600). pic.twitter.com/iyS5StSPxV

— The Military Watch (@MarcinRogowsk14) November 17, 2024

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2024 15:47	RDV	Added
29-Aug-2024 15:54	Anon.	Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative, ]
29-Aug-2024 18:20	Iceman 29	Updated [Phase, Embed code, ]
30-Aug-2024 12:13	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
30-Aug-2024 12:20	Anon.	Updated [Narrative, ]
30-Aug-2024 13:19	Anon.	Updated [Source, ]
31-Aug-2024 05:12	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
07-Sep-2024 06:42	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
21-Sep-2024 06:11	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
22-Oct-2024 13:01	Anon.	Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Nov-2024 07:23	Nebo	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
06-Jan-2025 07:54	Anon.	Updated [Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]
06-May-2025 15:15	Nebo	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, ]
08-May-2025 05:40	Nebo	Updated [Narrative, ]
18-Jun-2025 11:28	Nebo	Updated [Source, ]
29-Jun-2025 08:38	Nebo	Updated [Operator, ]
04-Aug-2025 05:34	Anon.	Updated [Operator, ]
30-Oct-2025 13:11	Nebo	Updated [Source, Embed code, ]