An Oklahoma Air National Guard student pilot managed to bring an F-16 safely back to his base missing half of the right wing after a midair collision with his instructor over Kansas last October. The Air Force released photos of the aftermath of the encounter in which the unnamed student’s outboard missile severed his instructor’s wing during a mock dogfight training exercise. The instructor ejected safely and his aircraft crashed harmlessly in a field. Official cause of the accident, according to Stars and Stripes, was pilot error on both counts.
The accident happened as the two aircraft were under simulated attack by a third F-16. According to the report, the two pilots lost sight of one another and miscommunication contributed to the mishap. After they touched, the aggressor F-16 pilot did a visual inspection of the clipped-wing Viper (F-16 pilots never call the aircraft by its official name of Falcon) and the student elected to try to save his aircraft. It’s not clear if it was repaired. There was no mention in the report of disciplinary action against either pilot. The instructor landed about 60 feet from his aircraft, which appears to have pancaked in, and suffered minor injuries. The Air Force Times describes the timeline in detail here.
