On October 11th, 2018; a Belgian Air Force’s F-16 aircraft suddenly caught fire during the routine maintenance. The incident happened at the Florennes Air Base. As the result of the fire, the aircraft was completely destroyed. Belgian Air Force also told media that due to the fire another F-16 suffered from collateral damage.
According to the official report of the incident, “A technician who was working on the maintenance of the now destroyed F-16 suddenly and accidentally activated the aircraft’s 6 Barrels 20mm Vulcan M61A-1 Cannon. The cannon which was loaded with ammo shot some bullets at the nearby F-16AM. That F-16 was already filled with fuel and was standing next to another F-16 which was ready for a training mission. Bullet shots caused the fueled F-16 to catch fire and cause damage to the standing by F-16.
As a result of the blast, two of the technicians suffered injuries. Belgian Aviation Safety Directorate has opened up an investigation for this accident.
After this accident, Belgian Air Force has only 60 remaining F-16 aircraft and out of the total, 48 are on active duty for NATO.
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