An Air Combat Command accident investigation into the April 5, 2006 crash of an F-16CJ Viper from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, S.C., finds that the pilot was suffering from physical fatigue generated by flying five high-g sorties in three days and from mental stress due to his upgrade training. Those two conditions engendered gravity-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). Upon recovering from GLOC, the pilot found his aircraft in an unrecoverable dive, according to an ACC statement. The pilot, Capt. Ted Schultz, ejected, suffering “serious injuries during the high-speed ejection,” and the fighter crashed into the ocean. (We reported earlier that the injuries included two broken legs.)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.