COLD LAKE, Alberta — A Hill Air Force Base F-16 jet pilot ejected safely Tuesday afternoon and sustained only minor, non-life threatening injuries before his 388th Fighter Wing aircraft crashed on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range in Canada.
The pilot was en route to Canada to participate in Exercise Maple Flag, an annual combat exercise held at the Canadian air base.
The Air Force is working in conjunction with Canadian Forces Emergency Response crews, including military police, to ensure the safety of everyone involved and to secure the crash site.
A flight safety board of investigations is being convened to determine what caused the crash, an Air Force press release stated.
Hill's F-16s have been accident-free since the summer of 1999. Last August, an F-16 was damaged when its landing gear collapsed after the plane landed. The pilot was not hurt.
On July 12, 1999, an F-16 from the 421st Fighter Squadron, 388th Fighter Wing, collided with a bird during takeoff. The pilot escaped injury and landed safely.
Hill had a much worse year in 1998. That year, Hill had five F-16 accidents that involved six planes. One pilot — Major Gregory C. Martineac — was killed when his plane crashed into the Bonneville Salt Flats on Nov. 9, 1998.
On Jan. 7, 1998, two F-16s collided during a flight over the western Utah training range. One crashed and the other managed to land at Dugway Proving Ground. One pilot had minor injuries and the other was unhurt.
The next day, an F-16 crashed 20 miles east of Wendover when the engine shut down. The pilot was not seriously injured.
On March 23, 1998, an F-16 skidded off a runway at Hill while trying to land. The pilot ejected without injury.
On June 19, 1998, an F-16 crashed while attempting to take off from a runway at Hill. The pilot suffered minor scrapes and burns, while the plane was a total loss. (This plane was part of the 514th Test Squadron, which is not in the 388th Wing.)
Because of all the 1998 accidents, the commanding officer of the 388th Fighter Wing, Col. Robert E. Fly, was reassigned. His removal was the result of the wing's poor safety record, according to a Hill spokesman.
Depending on the model, F-16s cost between $16 million and $20 million apiece.