An Air Combat Command accident investigation board found that the bearing assembly of the No. 4 engine on an F-16 that crashed in Utah last March failed, leading to a compressor stall, vibrations, and loss of thrust. The pilot ejected safely after deciding he wasn’t close enough to glide to the nearest airfield. He restarted the engine once but had such poor engine thrust he couldn’t maintain level flight.
The incoming head of the 7th Air Force will face an intense mission while relying on 4th-generation fighters to stave off looming threats from North Korea and China.