An F-16 from the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev., crashed Monday night about 8:50 p.m. near the end of the runway as it came in to land at the Tonopah Test Range Airfield, Nev. The pilot ejected safely. It was the second crash of an F-16 on the same day; on Monday an F-16 went down off the Florida coast. The Air Force has not identified the Nellis pilot, who was flying a night training mission over the Nevada Test and Training Range.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
