Inspectors Examine Wreckage of F-16 in Death Valley
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Air Force crash investigators were in a rugged, uninhabited part of Death Valley National Monument on Monday to inspect the wreckage of an F-16 that crashed Friday after the pilot ejected safely.
The plane was one of three California National Guard F-16s based in Fresno that were on routine maneuvers. It crashed on the east side of Saline Valley, about 115 miles east of Fresno.
The pilot was rescued by a helicopter crew from the China Lake Naval Weapons Center within an hour of the 2:25 p.m. crash, according to Maj. John Cotter, executive officer of the 144th Fighter Wing, based in Fresno. The pilot suffered a dislocated elbow, Cotter said.
Investigators from Edwards Air Force Base will attempt to determine the cause of the crash by examining the wreckage and interviewing the pilot, whose name was not released. The crash was the first by a plane from the 144th Fighter Wing in a decade, Cotter said.
Air Force planes routinely fly over Death Valley. In fact, some of the area is restricted air space in which civilian craft are not permitted.
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