Belgium Army shoot down own F-16, on the Ground...

[Michel Van]

The Belgium Army lost one of there F-16 Fighter Jets in a bizarre "Accident"

In Airbase in Florennes, according witnesses a F-16 under maintenance in hangar open fire with it's gun
hitting the parked Aircraft that erupted into Fire and was destroyed
Two engineers were light wounded and Second F-16 Damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-WIvCXTbHM

Source
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2018/10/11/f-16-toestel-uitgebrand-op-basis-van-florennes/

 

[Hanse]

I'm guessing you can't just accidentally lean on a button and fire the gun. That's loaded. And pointing at another F-16. On the ground.

 

[gTg]

Was this the first "kill" by an F-16 in Belgian service?

 

[TomS]

I'm guessing you can't just accidentally lean on a button and fire the gun. That's loaded. And pointing at another F-16. On the ground.

There's a weight-on-wheels switch that should inhibit the arming process, for starters, but there are ways to bypass it for maintenance. There should also be checks to make sure the ammo drum is empty before you do anything that could arm the gun. Etc. There's never a single failure in an incident like this -- it's always someone who found a new and complex series of mistakes to make.

 

[TomcatViP]

What we have heard so far is that the plane was supposed to be fully disarmed when the technician stepped-in for his maintenance work.