Report: Pilot in F-16 crash was Iraqi training in Tucson


Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Smoke from an F-16 Fighting Falcon that crashed Wednesday night during a training with the 162nd wing Arizona Air National Guard, can be seen just beyond the construction of a home north of Douglas, Ariz. The pilot has not been found. Photo taken: Thursday June 25, 2015. Photo by: Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star


1 hour ago • Staff and wire

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Photos: Arizona Air National Guard


An Iraqi pilot who has been training in the United States for four years was flying an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft that crashed in southern Arizona, a spokesman for the Iraqi defense minister said Thursday.

"We have no word yet on his fate or the reason behind the crash," Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim told The Associated Press. "We are in contact with the Americans to get more details."

The Arizona Air National Guard did not release information about the pilot, who was the only person aboard when the fighter went down during a Wednesday night training mission with the Guard's 162nd Wing.

The Guard's 162nd Wing conducts international F-16 pilot training from Tucson International Airport as well as reconnaissance missions from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, according to its website.

Base officials did not immediately have more information.

Officials said Thursday morning that the pilot was still listed as missing.

The fighter crashed about 8 p.m. in grassland some five miles away from the Douglas airport, 2nd Lt. Lacey L. Roberts said in a news release late Wednesday.

The crash caused a fire, delaying law enforcement from immediately investigating the crash site.

An initial report to 911 came from a woman who said "there was an airplane on fire in her front yard,” said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department.

Initial reports indicated that the F-16 might have ruptured a nearby gas line, but Capas said today it did not.

She said the wreck burned an area of grassland some 400 yards wide and nearly a quarter-mile long. The fire continued to smolder this morning, but it had been declared contained since Wednesday night.

An investigation at the crash scene could last through the weekend, officials said.

Initial reports incorrectly said two F-16 fighters were involved in the crash.

http://tucson.com/news/local/report-...d54a98f31.html