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| Date: | Thursday 27 June 2024 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-16CJ Fighting Falcon |
| Owner/operator: | US Air Force (USAF) |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Location: | North Sea -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM/ETAD) |
| Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM/ETAD) |
On 27 June 2024, a US Air Force KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tanker "KANZA91" of the 931 ARW was refueling an F-16CJ fighter aircraft "WARHAWK3" of the 480 FS, 52 FW off the coast of the Netherlands when the two aircraft suffered a disruption. The aircraft had been taking part in Exercise Turbo Weasel, a training exercise with the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
The F-16CJ fighter jet reportedly sustained "door damage" and had "a chunk taken out of its spine due to a close breakaway incident". Furthermore, the KC-46 was "damaged and unable to refuel". Another aircraft was requested to conduct a visual inspection of the aircraft, to see if "there were cables hanging behind the aircraft".
Following the incident, WARHAWK 1 continued with its assigned mission, while WARHAWK 3, escorted by WARHAWK2 as well as KANZA91 returned to ETAD in Germany.
Flight tracking data shows the KC-46 circled near Spangdahlem at roughly 8,000 feet for just short of an hour before landing around four hours after it took off.
Chris Gordon of Air & Space Forces Magazine stated, “The aircraft involved were an F-16 was assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, and a KC-46A from the 931st Air Refueling Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit based at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., that is forward deployed to Europe, a spokesperson for the 52nd Fighter Wing told Air & Space Forces Magazine.”
The Air Force acknowledged that the incident was under investigation, but no further information was provided.
Sources:
https://theaviationist.com/2024/07/02/kc-46-f-16-incident/
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/f-16-loses-chunk-aerial-refueling-incident-kc-46-europe/
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae574f&lat=51.696&lon=4.675&zoom=7.3&showTrace=2024-06-27&trackLabels×tamp=1719477861
https://x.com/EHEH_Spotter/status/1806267450079559860
Media:
🇺🇸USAF Boeing KC-46A Pegasus 15-46009 as flight #KANZA91
— ''The Lazy 🌴 Garden 🌴'' Eindhoven Spotter 🇳🇱 (@EHEH_Spotter) June 27, 2024
🇺🇸USAF SP F16A as flight #WARHAWK3 (2 ship with WARHAWK2)
Issue during AAR : to close break away incident -> damage #WARHAWK3 & boom #KANZA91 #NLspot #USAF pic.twitter.com/0kTRQrHnhP
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Jul-2024 09:35 | Anon. | Added |
| 03-Jul-2024 09:51 | Anon. | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Embed code] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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