OT: One F-16 can spoil your whole day

[Daddy Dee]

http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/2008060614332.aspx

Last April 9th, at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, two soldiers were driving a rented SUV about five kilometers from the part of the range used for live firing. It was at night, and an F-16 that thought it was firing at something in the live fire area, lit up the SUV instead. Only 70 20mm rounds were fired. Fortunately, the two people in the SUV were only injured (both from flying glass, the passenger got a dislocated shoulder as he rapidly exited the vehicle when it quickly turned off the road and stopped.) The investigation of how this happen has not been completed.

[Guest srobak]

Those are some BIG holes for 20mm rounds - obviously velocity and head-type played an issue. Very impressive - those soldiers are VERY lucky to be alive. Another 4 inches to the left on the one round, and it would have been all over.

[Daddy Dee]

Yes, that's about as close as it gets. Another four inches and the front seat would have been a most dangerous location to inhabit.

Another question, how close to the fuel tank, too?

[ZAKO]

A miss is as good as a mile.... But you still need to change your shorts.

[jacksonbart]

Do you think insurance will cover that?

[Daddy Dee]

Yeh. I wonder if they took out all the available coverage for the rental. Otherwise, they may have to pay the whole deductable.

[ZAKO]

Acts of God and war are not covered.

[oldtimer]

But this was neither. God was not flying the f-16, and was not even the co-pilot since it is a single pilot aircraft. No war was in the proximity either, practice war does not count.

[bigdaddy]

I would have to change my shorts and the seat of the truck would probably be ruined as well. Damn!

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I'd love to be the one who returns the truck to the rental hut. You would want to drop it off in the middle of the night. Get dress up in ripped clothes and makeup like you've been in an explosion and with a straight face say that the truck had the damage when you picked it up. When the guy starts to flip out offer him $47.82, 1/2 a six pack and a copy of "jugs" to foget about it.

[jbsl]

I don't think $47.82 and 1/2 a six pack and a copy of "jugs" would cover it!

$50 and a whole six pack and a copy of a "jugs" and "Hustler" mag should do it.

[Jay481985]

Those are some BIG holes for 20mm rounds - obviously velocity and head-type played an issue. Very impressive - those soldiers are VERY lucky to be alive. Another 4 inches to the left on the one round, and it would have been all over.

its from an f16 so that means it was shot from m61 vulcan with PGU-28/B rounds which are semi armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary rounds hence the big holes

[Islander]

an F-16 that thought it was firing at something in the live fire area, lit up the SUV instead.

I noticed the Press-Secretary-type euphemism: "lit up" the SUV. It sounds so much more innocuous than "blasted the hell out of" the SUV. Maybe it's because war news is daily stuff, or because people want to sound like they're hip to the battle talk, but terms like "collateral damage" and "friendly fire" really try to minimize the impact, emotional and otherwise, of instances of property and (most of the time) people who were not even intended targets being destroyed.

A few years ago, an American pilot in Afghanistan disobeyed his orders and dropped a 500-pound bomb on Canadian soldiers who were conducting a live-fire exercise at night. Four soldiers were killed and several more were injured. A group of America's neighbours and allies died at the hands of someone who should have been their ally, but it was just another "Oops!" moment.

Sorry to sound depressing, and thanks to DD for posting it, but any trend to become casual about these sorts of events would be a very bad trend, leading to more serious events seeming trivial. At least no-one was badly hurt this time.