Pilot killed in F-16 crash near Safford, sheriff says
Pilot killed in F-16 crash near Safford, sheriff says:- The pilot was killed when an F-16 training with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing crashed near Safford on Tuesday afternoon, Graham County Sheriff P.J. Allred said.
Allred said he did not know the identity of the pilot, nor where the man was from.
The crash site is near Fort Thomas, about 20 miles northwest of Safford, in Graham County.
The wing said Tuesday that the Air Force has assembled an interim safety board to investigate the incident and additional details will be provided as they become available.
The crash was the second involving an F-16 Fighting Falcon flying from the 162nd Wing at Tucson International Airport, and the third F-16 crash in Arizona, since mid-2015.
The 162nd Wing is the Air Guard’s biggest F-16 training operation and conducts training missions across military ranges in Southern and Central Arizona.
In July 2015, an Iraqi brigadier general flying from the 162nd died when his F-16, a newer model recently delivered to the Iraqi air force, crashed during night training near Douglas.
In January 2016, a Taiwanese pilot on a training flight from Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix was killed when his F-16 went down near Bagdad in Yavapai County.
The 162nd Wing has hosted training for pilots of allied nations since 1990 and trained pilots from nations including Iraq, Singapore, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Oman, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Source:- http://tucson.com/news/local/pilot-killed-in-f–crash-near-safford-sheriff-says/article_e689d616-92b3-11e7-84dd-2f64169cebe1.html
