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| Date: | Thursday 5 January 1989 |
| Time: | 10:00 LT |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon |
| Owner/operator: | 308th TFSqn /31st TFWg USAF |
| Registration: | 83-1116 |
| MSN: | 61-669 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | north of Lake Okeechobee, Florida -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Homestead AFB, Florida (HST/KHST) |
Written off when crashed 5 January 1989, into the Avon Park Air Force Range, North of Lake Okeechobee, Polk County, Florida. According to contemporary press reports:
"A U.S. Air Force F-16 crashed in a cow pasture north of Lake Okeechobee located in south-central Florida, yesterday. The pilot manged to safely eject and only suffered some bruises.
The impact of the crash cut a 5-foot-deep trench into the ground and ignited a grass fire that burned 50 acres. Firefighters fought the blaze for two hours after the 10.00am crash.
First Lt. Mark Pugh, 27, of Belpre, Ohio, was flying the single-seat F-16 (#83-1116) on a a surface attack/tactics training mission from Homestead Air Force Base at the southern end of Dade County.
He was #4 in the formation. While egressing the target area at ~515 knots, his canopy struck an approximately 8-pound Turkey buzzard directly in front of the HUD (Head Up Display). The bird's remains penetrated the canopy (this was the first USAF penetration of an F-16 canopy) and hit Pugsly in the chest, knocking his left hand onto the ejection handle and his right arm off the sidestick back against the bulkhead. He could only see a small gap near his left hand on the ejection handle, and that seemed like a good idea, so he ejected.
The airplane continued and crashed off-range, killing a cow. Pugsly's injuries were confined to bruises and lacerations from the canopy plexiglass."
Sources:
1. http://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/1446/
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421194448/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1989.htm
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1983.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Okeechobee
5. http://www.int-birdstrike.org/Amsterdam_Papers/IBSC25%20WPSA1.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Nov-2008 10:35 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Nov-2011 20:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Nov-2011 22:01 | Anon. | Updated [Registration, Location, Country, Narrative, ] |
| 23-Mar-2012 11:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, ] |
| 27-Sep-2013 05:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Nov-2013 00:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Oct-2020 19:58 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 27-Oct-2020 20:03 | harro | Updated [Location, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Oct-2020 20:54 | harro | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 16-Feb-2021 10:13 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator, ] |
| 16-Feb-2021 10:14 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
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