F-16 Jettisons Bombs at Hill AFB; No Injuries
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AP) -- An F-16 pilot jettisoned two 500-pound bombs and two fuel tanks before making an emergency landing at Hill Air Force Base on Thursday, officials said.
No injuries were reported after the incident at the base about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Col. Scott J. Zobrist said it appeared one bomb detonated and destroyed an empty tin shack on base in an uninhabited area.
Hill spokesman Rick Essary said Thursday night that explosive ordnance experts at the base were assessing the best method to recover a second bomb that did not explode.
Zobrist said both fuel tanks, weighing about 300 gallons each, were accounted for and the pilot was able to land safely when his fighter jet had trouble after taking off Thursday afternoon.
Zobrist said the F-16 pilot was experienced and followed proper procedures, ''which involve jettisoning the stores in order for him to reduce ... his gross weight so he can land safely on the base.''
Zobrist said it was unclear what went wrong with the jet.
Power to parts of the base was knocked out. Zobrist said the tin shack flattened by the bomb was near a transformer and power lines, leading to the outage.
A stretch of Interstate 15 near the base was briefly shut down in both directions. But Zobrist said that the incident was contained to the base.
Quelle ist die New York Times
Mal den schwarz- gelben Panik-knopf gedrückt, und schon steht man in der Zeitung.......
Gott sei Dank wurde niemand verletzt und die Maschine konnte sicher landen.