The following article reposted from f-16.net
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Singapore F-16 down near Ajo
Trainee pilot is killed; Luke
fighters grounded
By Enric Volante and Michael Marizco
ARIZONA DAILY STAR www.dailystar.com
AJO - F-16 fighters remained grounded at Luke Air Force Base
Thursday after one of the jet planes plummeted "like a falling
star" in the night, killing the pilot and crashing about 25 miles
southeast of Ajo.
The pilot, Lt. Loo Kwang Han, who went by Brandon Loo while
training at Luke, was a 25-year-old Singaporean pilot, said Capt.
Vanessa Hillman, a spokeswoman for Luke Air Force Base's 56th
Fighter Wing.
The U.S. Air Force launched a search shortly after the plane, owned
by the Republic of Singapore air force, crashed at 9:54 p.m.
Wednesday.
It took off from the base in Glendale with two other aircraft on a
training flight but lost radio contact about 45 minutes into the
flight, officials said.
Matthew Pebble, a construction worker who lives in the Tohono
O'odham Reservation village of Pisinimo, said he watched the lights
of the F-16 from his porch Wednesday night.
"It came down like a falling star in a straight line, and then -
boom!" he said, using his hands to imitate a blast.
Horses that roam the desert between Gu Vo District and Pisinimo
District ran screaming into the mesquite and cholla cacti from the
fire. Minutes later, two helicopters flew into the area, Pebble
said. He did not know it was an F-16 crash until Thursday
morning.
The plane, which carried no bombs or missiles, was a single-seat
F-16C assigned to the base's 56th Fighter Wing. About 200 F-16s,
which cost more than $20 million each, are based at Luke. It trains
about 1,000 pilots and 1,000 maintenance crew chiefs a year,
including some from Singapore and other U.S. allies.
"We are currently pausing our training operations to allow us some
time to stand down and review safety procedures," said spokeswoman
Mary Jo May.
In May 2002, Maj. David Walker, a U.S. pilot, ejected from a
Singapore air force F-16 before it crashed on a flight out of Luke.
He survived with injury.
Investigators blamed the incident on a faulty turbine blade that
caused a massive fuel leak, turning the jet's PW-229 engine into a
fireball.
In the latter half of last year, the U.S. Air Force identified 44
faulty turbine blades in tests on its own F-16s at Luke. Air Force
officials installed new blades and intensified inspections. They
said in January that they had the problem under control.
Hillman said Thursday that the fatigued blades were not found in
any Singapore air force jets at Luke after the 2002 crash. "They
did not have that problem," she said.
Pilots from Singapore have trained at Luke for more than 20 years.
The nation has one of the most advanced air forces in Asia, but it
often keeps aircraft in other countries for training and
maintenance.
Wednesday night's crash was about 10 miles west of Pisinimo, a
village of 200 people, said Pisinimo District Chairman Johnson
Jose.
"We've always been opposed to practicing maneuvers over us, but it
still happens," he said.
"Go try that over in Tucson and see how many times you get away
with it before they chase you off," he said.
Officials at the Hickiwan District, closer to Ajo, about 130 miles
west of Tucson, were also concerned about military maneuver
missions over their heads.
"We've always had plane crashes here," said Hickiwan District
Chairman Manuel Osequeda. He's counted at least 10 in the area
since he became chairman 13 years ago, he said. "It's not going to
be long before they slam into one of our villages."
The U.S. Air Force lost one life every 33 days and one aircraft
every 17 days at a cost of $1.33 million per day last year,
according to the Air Force Safety Center. That doesn't include
combat losses.
Loo Kwang Han attained his pilot wings in July 2001 and became an
F-16 pilot in January 2003, Hillman said.
° Contact reporter Enric Volante at 573-4129 or at
[email protected] Contact reporter Michael Marizco at 573-4213
or [email protected]
