Loose papers in cockpit likely cause of F-16 crash at NATO base in Albacete

A seemingly trivial oversight may have caused the January 26 accident at NATO’s military base in Los Llanos (Albacete), where 11 people lost their lives after an F-16 crashed on takeoff.

Another 17 people were seriously hurt and 16 more sustained light injuries as a result of the incident.

The final report by the investigative committee finds that some loose documents inside the cabin may have triggered the worst accident sustained by NATO in recent years outside conflict areas, both in terms of casualty count and affected member states.

The committee concludes that all navigation aids and communications systems functioned normally

The aircraft’s two Greek pilots and nine French military officers died as a result of the accident. The falling plane skidded and hit the hangar where other aircraft were awaiting their turn to take part in a routine training course. The collision sparked a massive fireball.

The committee, presided by Greece and made up of members from Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, released its conclusions on Wednesday via the French Defense Ministry.

The committee concludes that all navigation aids and communications systems were functioning normally.

According to investigators, the cause of the crash was the “accidental modification” of the position of the compensator that controls the rudder, probably after being brushed by some kind of document, such as the one containing the orders for the exercise flight.

This threw the aircraft off balance, considerably affecting its navigation. The fact that the wheel had been pushed all the way to the right should have been detected during the plane check just prior to takeoff, but this check was conducted 20 minutes earlier, when the aircraft was still in the parking area, not on the runway as is usually the case.

F-16 aircraft also lack a warning system to indicate that the plane’s compensation is incorrect. This means that the pilots failed to notice the situation until it was too late. Their attempts to correct it while up in the air were insufficient to bring the aircraft under control.

The plane crashed just 7.8 seconds after takeoff.

The incident took place during the course of NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), based in Los Llanos. The airbase serves as an international training center for NATO pilots and crews, who take daytime and nighttime flying courses there. Ten member states make up the TLP (Spain, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, United States, Greece, the Netherlands, Italy and Britain), although other countries also occasionally participate.