An accident investigation board has concluded that failure of a throttle cable led to the March 12 crash of an F-16CJ near the Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada. About 46 minutes into a training flight, the engine remained stuck in full power. Repeated attempts by the pilot to disengage the afterburner failed before the engine flamed out from fuel starvation.
The Air Force will begin its 71st annual Operation Christmas Drop on Dec. 4. The weeklong exercise is a yearly tradition that delivers supplies such as food, fishing equipment, school books, and clothes to remote islands in the Pacific. It is the longest-running Department of Defense humanitarian mission.