Vern Evans
The Air Force is investigating how a 300-gallon fuel tank fell from an F-16 Fighting Falcon into a Florida neighborhood Tuesday.
The tank belonging to an F-16 assigned to the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base landed in a residential area in nearby Niceville at about 11 a.m. local time, a base spokesperson said. Nobody was killed or injured, and no property damage was initially reported, the spokesperson said.
But local media said Tuesday that jet fuel could be smelled in the area, and multiple neighbors said fuel had seeped into their yards.
Eglin flew a small drone over the fuel tank’s impact area Wednesday to survey the site, and the base is working on removing the tank and cleaning up the area.
The 96th Test Wing flies F-16s as part of its mission to test and evaluate the Air Force’s air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems and other systems.
The F-16 often carries a pair of external fuel tanks that each weigh 2,400 pounds. Along with the fighter’s internal tank, the external tanks bring the F-16′s total fuel capacity to about 12,000 pounds.
Mid Bay News, a local news publication, reported Tuesday the fuel pod was “shredded wreckage” in a resident’s driveway. The impact site was a few hundred yards from an elementary school.
“Only by the grace of God, it landed between two houses,” Niceville City Manager David Deitch told the outlet.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
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