F-16C ACCIDENT REPORT RELEASED Published March 9, 2009 Air Combat Command Public Affairs LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (ACCNS) -- Catastrophic engine failure caused an F-16C to crash on the flight line of Balad Air Base, Iraq, November 12, 2008, Air Combat Command officials announced today. According to the Accident Investigation Board report, the aircraft was initiating an afterburner takeoff when the second stage disk fan failed causing fan section components to tear through the rest of the engine. Investigation analysis of the disk showed a previously undetected sub-surface crack. The crack is estimated to be a result of the manufacturing process but showed no abnormalities that would have been cause for rejection at the time the second stage fan disk was fabricated. The metallurgical analysis could not identify a root cause for the subsurface crack. The second stage fan disk is attached as a part of the engine fan rotor assembly as one of three stages used to drive the engine and produce thrust to achieve and maintain flight. The plane was deployed to the 55th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad AB in October 2008 from the 20th Fighter Wing, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. The $28.8 million aircraft was destroyed during impact and the subsequent fire. For more information, contact the Air Combat Command Public Affairs office at (757) 764-5007 or email accpa.operations@langley.af.mil.