So this happened less than a mile from my shop today

[bmw]

I'm sure Matt will note that they were from Ohio

So yeah, a fuel tank literally fell from the sky and landed in a plaza parking lot.

[km1125]

It'll be interesting to hear more details. I'm surprised they dropped a tank over a populated area yet the jet could still make it back to Ohio. If it had an emergency landing at the closest airport that would have made more sense. Wonder why both of them didn't get dropped into Lake Huron.

[Matt]

I'm sure Matt will note that they were from Ohio

So yeah, a fuel tank literally fell from the sky and landed in a plaza parking lot.

[TC Talks]

Isn't there a monstrous military airport just a few miles away? It's a shame they couldn't land.

I hope the fuel that dumped into Lake Huron was contained.

[km1125]

Isn't there a monstrous military airport just a few miles away? It's a shame they couldn't land.

I hope the fuel that dumped into Lake Huron was contained.

Seriously? It wasn't crude oil. It probably evaporated before anyone even got onsite.

[TC Talks]

Isn't there a monstrous military airport just a few miles away? It's a shame they couldn't land.

I hope the fuel that dumped into Lake Huron was contained.

Seriously? It wasn't crude oil. It probably evaporated before anyone even got onsite.

Not once it hit the water

[MWmetalhead]

Scary, scary shit. The Air National Guard owes recompense to the people whose vehicles were damaged and to the retail plaza owner whose parking lot was damaged.

I, too, would love to know why the aircraft couldn't have simply landed at Wurtsmith with the tanks still attached.

Edit: the explanation from the ANG for dropping the tanks sounds like total bullshit.

https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/no-g ... higan-ohio

[bmw]

Sheriff Franks said he was told by the National Guard the F-16's electronics were not reading the gas tanks and that procedure is to drop them.

What does that even mean? The electronics onboard stopped detecting their existence so the procedure was bombs away?

[TC Talks]

Scary, scary shit. The Air National Guard owes recompense to the people whose vehicles were damaged and to the retail plaza owner whose parking lot was damaged.

I, too, would love to know why the aircraft couldn't have simply landed at Wurtsmith with the tanks still attached.

Edit: the explanation from the ANG for dropping the tanks sounds like total bullshit.

https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/no-g ... higan-ohio

That goes against aviation law. Those property owners won't win a claim.

[Ben Zonia]

This is a very serious matter, but on many levels, as Jesse Duke used to say, "something here is about a half bubble off plumb". That's all I can say.

[km1125]

Sheriff Franks said he was told by the National Guard the F-16's electronics were not reading the gas tanks and that procedure is to drop them.

What does that even mean? The electronics onboard stopped detecting their existence so the procedure was bombs away?

I missed that quote, but could see where it could be an issue with fly-by-wire systems, particularly something like the F-117, which was inherently unstable. That jet needed the fly-by-wire computer to keep the plane stable, and if it had any external appendages like fuel tanks, the computer would have to know about them or the craft would be very unstable and likely crash. While the F-16 is a fly-by-wire plane now, it does not have that inherent instability like the F-117 had, but the rule might apply because it is critical for *some* aircraft.

(The F-117 was just used as an example, even though I don't believe it was ever configured with external tanks).

[Matt]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dai ... 10897.html

[Rate This]

Sheriff Franks said he was told by the National Guard the F-16's electronics were not reading the gas tanks and that procedure is to drop them.

What does that even mean? The electronics onboard stopped detecting their existence so the procedure was bombs away?

I missed that quote, but could see where it could be an issue with fly-by-wire systems, particularly something like the F-117, which was inherently unstable. That jet needed the fly-by-wire computer to keep the plane stable, and if it had any external appendages like fuel tanks, the computer would have to know about them or the craft would be very unstable and likely crash. While the F-16 is a fly-by-wire plane now, it does not have that inherent instability like the F-117 had, but the rule might apply because it is critical for *some* aircraft.

(The F-117 was just used as an example, even though I don't believe it was ever configured with external tanks).

So if the computer can't tell they are there the extra weight makes it unstable and it has no idea the parameters with which to compensate for the unknown variable?

[km1125]

Sheriff Franks said he was told by the National Guard the F-16's electronics were not reading the gas tanks and that procedure is to drop them.

What does that even mean? The electronics onboard stopped detecting their existence so the procedure was bombs away?

I missed that quote, but could see where it could be an issue with fly-by-wire systems, particularly something like the F-117, which was inherently unstable. That jet needed the fly-by-wire computer to keep the plane stable, and if it had any external appendages like fuel tanks, the computer would have to know about them or the craft would be very unstable and likely crash. While the F-16 is a fly-by-wire plane now, it does not have that inherent instability like the F-117 had, but the rule might apply because it is critical for *some* aircraft.

(The F-117 was just used as an example, even though I don't believe it was ever configured with external tanks).

So if the computer can't tell they are there the extra weight makes it unstable and it has no idea the parameters with which to compensate for the unknown variable?

I'm just suggesting that's a possibility, based on the quote from the article above. It's not just the weight too, it the aerodynamic drag that would affect flight characteristics that the computer would have to compensate for.