Investigators seek clues in
engine
recovered from Misawa F-16 crashBy Wayne Specht, Misawa bureau chief
By Wayne Specht / Stars and Stripes
Technicians from a Pacific Air Forces safety investigation board at Misawa Air Base,
Japan, tear apart the engine from a Misawa F-16 fighter that crashed into the Pacific
Ocean April 3. The engine was recovered Sunday by Navy divers working from the USS
Safeguard salvage and recovery ship near Ripsaw Range, 12 miles north of Misawa, where the
jet crashed into about 20 feet of water.
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AMAGAMORI,
Japan — Navy salvage workers’ recovery of the engine from a Misawa F-16 that
crashed into the Pacific Ocean three weeks ago could provide clues to accident
investigators as to the cause of the accident.
The General
Electric-manufactured F110-129 engine is one of several critical components that safety
board investigators need to determine what happened April 3 when 1st Lt. Mark Hadley
ejected from his F-16CJ moments before it plunged into the ocean near Ripsaw Range, about
2,500 feet off shore. Hadley was not injured.
Divers also
recovered part of the fuel tank, portions of a wing and the main landing gear, said Maj.
Claudia Foss, 35th Fighter Wing public affairs chief.
The flight
and data recorders and two ejection seats carried aboard the fighter are also being
sought.
The
wreckage recovered Sunday, Foss said, was within the restricted-area boundaries of the
range, immediately east of the beach, fronting range property. That portion of the ocean
is normally off limits to local fisherman because of inherent dangers when aircraft use
the range for training, Air Force officials have said.
Earlier
reporters stated the wreckage was found in about 20 feet of water.
The Ripsaw
Range is used for air-to-ground delivery of practice munitions by U.S. Air Force and Japan
Self-Defense Forces pilots based at Misawa.
No live
ordnance is permitted to be dropped at the range, however small shotgun-shell type charges
are often used in dummy munitions to score how close pilots get to targets.
Divers from
the USS Safeguard — a salvage-and-recovery vessel home-ported in Sasebo, Japan —
began salvage operations Saturday using three rubberized work boats, because the water in
which the wreckage was found is too shallow for the ship to operate safely.
Parts
recovered over the weekend were brought to Hachinohe port, 15 miles south of Misawa, then
trucked to the air base aboard flatbed trailers.
An Air
Force team of safety investigators has convened at the base to examine if a safety-related
problem caused the mishap involving the $20 million fighter.
Investigators
will examine recovered portions of the aircraft over the next several weeks to learn what
caused the aircraft to malfunction as it conducted air-to-ground training at the range 12
miles north of Misawa.
Since the
accident, the Air Force has placed the range off limits for training until recovery
operations are complete.
Air Force
officials announced that Col. John M. Gibbons with Pacific Air Forces’ deputy for
operations in Hawaii has been appointed president of the accident investigation board, a
separate panel of experts that will look at the chain of events leading to the accident.
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