F-16 exceeded 480 mph before fatal crash

Investigators say the fighter pilots did not talk to air traffic controllers.

By BILL ADAIR and LEANORA MINAI

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 2000

The pilots of the F-16 fighter planes in Thursday's fatal collision over Manatee County were flying faster than 480 mph and had not contacted Tampa air traffic controllers as they should have, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday night.

Investigators said preliminary radar data indicate the southbound planes descended rapidly through the controlled airspace east of Tampa International Airport, but the pilots did not speak with controllers in the Tampa Approach Control. The Air Force pilots may have been using the wrong radio frequency or they may not have tried to make contact, the NTSB said.

Radar data indicate the planes were traveling faster than 480 mph shortly before one of them struck a Cessna 172, said Jorge Prellezo, regional director of the NTSB.

That speed is well above the 300-mph limit for planes below 10,000 feet. Military pilots are allowed to fly faster in special military areas, but the planes were not yet in one of those areas, Prellezo said.

"In the general area where they were, they were not allowed to fly that speed," he said.

The crash killed the Cessna pilot, Jacques Olivier, 57, a flight instructor and charter pilot from Citrus County.

Capt. Greg Kreuder, 31, the pilot of the F-16, maneuvered his fighter plane away from populated areas and ejected shortly before it crashed behind a Home Depot. He was not seriously injured. The other F-16 was not damaged.

The two F-16s were flying from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia to the Avon Park Bombing Range in Central Florida for a training mission to drop bombs. As the planes neared the Tampa Bay area, one of the F-16 pilots told controllers they were going to fly under visual rules for the remainder of the trip to the bombing range.

Visual rules allow pilots to fly on their own as long as they "see and avoid" other planes. Usually, those pilots do not have to maintain radio contact with controllers.

However, the preliminary data indicate the F-16s flew through the protective airspace that surrounds Tampa International Airport. Pilots who fly through that area, which stretches east to Plant City and goes as high as 10,000 feet, are required to talk to controllers, even if they are flying under visual rules.

Because they were not talking with Tampa controllers, the F-16 pilots were on their own to look for other airplanes.

The single-engine Cessna had left Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport at 3:30 p.m. and was headed for Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg. It had been in the air for 18 minutes when it was struck by the F-16.

Several recent military crashes have been blamed on reckless actions by military pilots. A Navy pilot and two other people were killed in the Persian Gulf in 1996 after the pilot tried a prohibited aerobatic maneuver. A 1996 F-14 crash in Nashville was blamed on a pilot showing off for his parents.

On Friday, FAA officials would not discuss the F-16 crash, saying it was under investigation by the NTSB and the Air Force. Officials from the Air Force said they would not comment on the crash until their investigation is complete in 30 to 60 days.

NTSB investigator Corky Smith was scheduled to interview the F-16 pilots Friday night to get their account. He will also talk with air traffic controllers and eyewitnesses and analyze the wreckage of the Cessna.

A key question for investigators is whether the pilots had any warning about a possible collision. F-16s have sophisticated radar that should alert pilots in that situation, but the NTSB does not know yet whether these planes did, or whether it was turned on.

Air traffic controllers also have "conflict alerts" on their radar so they can warn pilots when they are dangerously close to another plane. Smith will try to determine whether Tampa controllers were given a warning of a possible conflict.

It's likely that the first F-16 had its radar transmitter on, but the F-16 that hit the Cessna probably did not, a common procedure when military planes fly in formation. If the F-16s were several miles apart, that could mean that controllers got misleading information about the danger to the Cessna.

The crash made for a strange scene on Friday. Nearly a dozen cows grazed within feet of the command post in Sarasota, where scores of Air Force personnel worked, many of whom had M-16s slung over their shoulder.

Smith and investigator Butch Wilson said they are examining two crash sites over a 3-mile line. The debris from the F-16 is in a field of palmettos off Interstate 75 and pieces of the Cessna 172 are scattered over a nearby golf course community.

Retired Air Force Col. Manfred A. Schalk, former vice commander of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Force Base, said it's not easy to see other planes when you're rocketing through the sky in a fighter plane.

"The F-16 pilots are very well trained and certainly know they're supposed to be looking around," Schalk said Friday. "Sometimes there are blind spots where these things happen, unfortunately."

He said pilots cannot see in every direction when they're in the sky. That's why they are encouraged to bank to the left or right to see above or below and not fly straight the whole flight.

"You have to be vigilant, especially in congested areas," Schalk said.

- Researchers John Martin and Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright