Two F16s collide in Cobra Gold exercise above Chaiyaphum

[Spitfire]

Two F16s crash in Chaiyaphum following mid-aid collision


Two F16 jet fighters taking part in the Cobra Gold war exercise collided mid-air and crashed on a mountain in Chaiyaphum Monday morning.
TV reports said pilots of the two planes ejected themselves out of the planes in time.
The authorities have been trying to locate and rescue the two pilots from the forest.
Local villagers said they saw a plane crashed on the Lankha Mountain in Muang district.

Source - The Nation

Comment - Not often we see this, the Royal Thai Air Force has an OK record on safety etc, probably because it doesn't fly too much unless something is going on. Does make me worry though when I see them going supersonic and playing their games over the large cities like Korat/Udon Thani etc as if this had happened over a city then it would be a disaster. I know that the American fighters are not allowed to fly over the cities, just the Thais that do that. Wonder if they were Thai or US/other fighters? Guessing they were Thai though, even if no mention of it.

[Randy Cornhole]

Sounds expensive...!

[Nereus]

Two F16s crash in Chaiyaphum following mid-aid collision


Source - The Nation

Comment - Not often we see this, the Royal Thai Air Force has an OK record on safety etc, ...........................................

Depends on what you regard as OK.

http://www.thai-aviation.net/accidents6.htm

[Spitfire]

Yes Nereus, perhaps "average" would have been a better choice of words regarding this subject.

[PeteC]

They were Thai, bought in 2002. Replacement cost is 95 M$ each without the bells and whistles. One RTAF General said they couldn't have possibly have collided as both pilots safely ejected. I guess they just fell out of the sky then. Will be interesting to see the final spin on cause. Pete

[Nereus]

I doubt that you will ever hear the real reason, Pete. The quote, if true, from the General, says it all. But,to me, it is pretty obvious that they collided.

[PeteC]

Yes, I'm sure both pilots have their military careers flashing before their eyes. Let's see if one or both are honest? Pete

[margaretcarnes]

Dumb blonde question coming up - if they did collide how come they had time to eject?

[PeteC]

Dumb blonde question coming up - if they did collide how come they had time to eject?

It could have been just wing tip to wing tip Mags. I have visions of two hot-dogging pilots feeling their oats during the yearly big military exercise. Pete

EDIT; For clarity, many times these planes fly in very close formation. It's not unknown, in fact a common cause of accidents, that they sometimes fly too close and something from one touches another causing a crash. Indeed Mags, if it had been a head on collision or head to side, there wouldn't have been any ejection.

[hhfarang]

The probably just finished watching "Top Gun" and were attempting this stunt...

[PeteC]

No conclusion yet, but a knee jerk reaction to hopefully prevent more. Pete

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/02 ... 48810.html

[Spitfire]

It says in the Nation report that the RATF plans to equip the remaining F-16s with an "air navigation unit."

Not an aviation expert myself on the techy side but shouldn't they already have one of them in this type of warplane.

[Nereus]

There are many different systems that can be called "air navigation unit".

Until they admit what the cause was I humbly suggest it is probably one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_c ... nce_system

[hhfarang]

They"re probably going to install Garmin Nuvi's with a suction cup to the wind screen and plugged in to the cigarette lighter...

[STEVE G]

There are many different systems that can be called "air navigation unit".

Until they admit what the cause was I humbly suggest it is probably one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_c ... nce_system

Those TCAS systems warn you about other aircraft that you don't know about but obviously in a military situation like this they don't really help if you're formation flying or practicing dog fighting where no technical system is really going to keep you out of danger.