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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Knight Templar on November 04, 2004, 08:21:40 pm

Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Knight Templar on November 04, 2004, 08:21:40 pm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnewsstory.cfm?storyID=3607411&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

My question is: Why the hell do they have a targeting range 4km away from a school...... using live ammunition!? :wtf:
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Rictor on November 04, 2004, 08:27:26 pm
:wtf: :eek2:
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Taristin on November 04, 2004, 08:32:41 pm
Better Question: Why is it being reported in New Zealand and not here? :wtf:
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: ChronoReverse on November 04, 2004, 08:36:10 pm
Since when did F-16s strafe ground targets with bullets?
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Jetmech Jr. on November 04, 2004, 08:46:30 pm
Since when was the military so stupid as to mistake a School for a target?
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Corsair on November 04, 2004, 09:10:21 pm
Yeah, I saw that. What the hell were they thinking?
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Jetmech Jr. on November 04, 2004, 09:11:24 pm
God, I shudder to think what would have happened if that school wasn't out that day...
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: HeX on November 04, 2004, 09:16:45 pm
Well the article said that they were non-explosive so they pockmarked the roof and concrete a bit.

As long as the kids were inside they'd probably have been okay.

If it was recess however...
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Deepblue on November 04, 2004, 09:20:56 pm
25 rounds... at least he stopped quickly.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: deep_eyes on November 04, 2004, 09:22:58 pm
dont matter if it were explosive rounds or not! thats bullets flying into a damn school! only in fuggin NEW JERSEY!
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Night Hammer on November 04, 2004, 09:51:53 pm
It wasnt even the air force it was the air national guard
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Stealth on November 04, 2004, 10:04:58 pm
Quote
An investigation is being conducted into how the pilot mistook the school, located on Frog Pond Road, for a target range

hahahahahaha that's unbelievable.

i can see very soon this is going to be blamed on bush... just as soon as kazan enters the thread :p
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: MatthewPapa on November 04, 2004, 11:07:34 pm
I really dont see how an F-16 could strafe a school. Thats crazy if that really happened. I will be looking for that in the paper tommorow!

BTW, does anyone know if the Navy is going to retire the F-14?
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Knight Templar on November 04, 2004, 11:12:09 pm
Why would they?

And it probably was Bush's fault. He was probably scheduled to be at the school that morning but the National Gaurd being the twats they are got there late.

"Woops! A school? I swear it had the bullseye on it!"
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Bobboau on November 04, 2004, 11:45:45 pm
you know what the first thing I thought when I saw the words 'New Jersey'. thank god this wasn't in Iraq or Afgahnastan or something.
just think what would have happened, what would be said about us, had this happened somewere else
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Flipside on November 04, 2004, 11:48:03 pm
Edited coz I consider the joke a bit borderline ;)

Let's just say, it's a good job no kids were in it and leave it at that ;)
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Liberator on November 05, 2004, 12:14:59 am
Obviously a mistake, but an agregious one.  Still, with no harm done and only minor damage, I would probably let the pilot off with a week's confinement, loss of flight priveledge for a month and forfeiture of 2 week's flight pay.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Genryu on November 05, 2004, 01:56:44 am
And how about checking if pilots aren't brain dead now ? How the **** can somebody be so retarded as to confuse a frigging SCHOOL with a military target ?!? No wonder that friendly fire is so high in combat situation,sheesh...
If you want to have a professional army, at least train them decently, FFS. I mean, if you take Iraq, before Bush said "Mission Accomplished" (yeah, right....), there was more killed due to friendly fire than to ennemy fire on the US side. If you look at the british, I don't remember the exact numbers, but I'm sure that friendly fire was more than 10 times less of the US ration.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: kasperl on November 05, 2004, 03:08:42 am
Genryu: FF taken or FF fired? The British got shot at by US troops too.

As for this incident, placement of that live fire range is off. No air live fire range should be so close to anything populated.

And strafing ground targets with bullets isn't all that unusual, IIRC.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: aldo_14 on November 05, 2004, 03:10:22 am
Quote
Originally posted by Liberator
Obviously a mistake, but an agregious one.  Still, with no harm done and only minor damage, I would probably let the pilot off with a week's confinement, loss of flight priveledge for a month and forfeiture of 2 week's flight pay.


I'd just settle for kicking his arse. .... it doesn't matter whether harm was done, what matters is that he strafed a primary school.  5km from his target.

Kick him out altogether, he's obviously not competent if he's making that kind of mistake (he should not only know exactly - visually and by instrument -  where he and his target is, he should also understand the consequences of getting that worng)
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Genryu on November 05, 2004, 03:32:34 am
FF fired, kasperl. I think it has been proved again and again that soldiers there are more than a little trigger happy. It's not that I can't understand that, after all, they're in a warzone, and reflex can save their lives, but still, when you see how far they take it...:rolleyes:
Still, kinda remind me of Kosovo, when some retardS (one couldn't have ****ed it that good by himself) managed to destroy the China ambassade.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Liberator on November 05, 2004, 03:54:18 am
I would worry about punishing the pilot too much the Government will take care of that.  geez...I been watching too much JAG
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Sigma957 on November 05, 2004, 04:22:06 am
Indeed, they are trained enough so they should be able to identify the target easily.
BTW who thought up that name??  Little Egg Harbour Intermediate School lol
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Genryu on November 05, 2004, 05:12:05 am
Quote
Originally posted by Liberator
I would worry about punishing the pilot too much the Government will take care of that.  geez...I been watching too much JAG


If they did that, nearly every soldier in Irak would have been sued :p
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Goober5000 on November 05, 2004, 06:16:57 am
Hmm.  Was the pilot reading too much Calvin and Hobbes?

(http://dlazechk.freewebsites.com/ch881106.jpg)

EDIT: The containing page is at http://dlazechk.freewebsites.com/sundaygoingtoschool.html, if the picture doesn't show up.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: GoulMeister on November 05, 2004, 06:22:05 am
mabe it was'nt pilot error mabe the equiptment was faulty, if an rpg7 can disable an abrams then perhaps the air force is also getting bad equiptment.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Gloriano on November 05, 2004, 06:29:44 am
Ohh :wtf:  How in hell he did shoot school gotta be blind pilot or someone did make mistake.


most oddest thing is Why in hell live ammunition target is in Schools direction
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: aldo_14 on November 05, 2004, 06:59:08 am
Quote
Originally posted by Goober5000
Hmm.  Was the pilot reading too much Calvin and Hobbes?

(http://dlazechk.freewebsites.com/ch881106.jpg)


:lol: :yes:
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Bobboau on November 05, 2004, 08:11:02 am
I'm thinking this might have been an equipment failure
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Liberator on November 05, 2004, 10:17:06 am
Probably, 3.5 miles isn't that bad a deviation from almost 2 miles(10,000 feet) up.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Unknown Target on November 05, 2004, 10:18:56 am
It was at night, something might've failed. He wouldn't PURPOSEFULLY strafe the school, it was probably a navigation error.
Hell, someone back at HQ could've plotted his course wrong.

BTW, this was reported on Yahoo.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: silvertree on November 05, 2004, 10:31:21 am
Quote
Quote
mabe it was'nt pilot error mabe the equiptment was faulty, if an rpg7 can disable an abrams


any large explosive that big can take a track of tanks.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Clave on November 05, 2004, 06:02:28 pm
Ever flown a supersonic jet fighter simulator?  You better believe **** happens FAST.  The phrase 'Don't blink, or you'll miss it' is very true.  I flew supersonic - straight into the ground after a couple of minutes - the guys that fly those things for real are the elite, but they are still human, and the margin of error is very small.  I am frankly astonished that there is live firing allowed within 50 MILES of a inhabited town....
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: .::Tin Can::. on November 05, 2004, 06:21:10 pm
*laughs at New Jersey stupidity*
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Grey Wolf on November 05, 2004, 06:53:10 pm
There was another version of this article in my local paper this morning. Seems that the live-fire field predates the populated area, as it's an early Cold War remnant.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Knight Templar on November 06, 2004, 12:55:24 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Clave
I am frankly astonished that there is live firing allowed within 50 MILES of a inhabited town....


Exactly.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: Clave on November 06, 2004, 04:21:52 pm
This is what the F-16 carries:

Designation     M61A1, M61A2
Type                Six-barrel, hydraulically operated 20mm Gatling gun
Contractor     General Dynamics Armament Systems
Rate of Fire      6,000 rounds per minute
Effective Range   Several thousand yards

OK, so you fire 1 second bursts - that equates to 100 rounds.  You are flying at an assumed 500mph or 700 feet per second, which means your rounds land in a box 700 feet long.  

Now assume a range of 3,000 yards or 9,000 feet;  and say he let off a couple of rounds as he turned away - say at 25 degrees of turn - he could be 4,000 feet off target horizontally, and landing stuff 9,000 feet away.  It's all too easy....
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: TopAce on November 06, 2004, 04:58:52 pm
6000 rounds per minute and the pilot only shot 25? That means that he stopped after 0.25 seconds. He sure had quick reflexes. I have already heard this news before.
Let me tell you something in the same caliber:
In Hungary a few weeks ago, a building should have been destroyed using dynamite, or any remote-controlled exploding thing. The building was accidentally destroyed by the bomb controller 15 minutes before planned, because he inadvertantly pressed the button while explaining how the remote detonator is to be used for a rookie. It is most fortunate nobody was wounded.
If you are interested in the details of this building story, feel free to sound it out. I will translate a whole article about this(if I find any). Damnit, it has been a long ago I translated from Hungarian to English.
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: SadisticSid on November 06, 2004, 06:11:10 pm
Quote
Originally posted by TopAce
6000 rounds per minute and the pilot only shot 25? That means that he stopped after 0.25 seconds. He sure had quick reflexes. I have already heard this news before.


...which makes it sound more like equipment failure than pilot error
Title: U.S. F-16 Accidentally Strafes Elementary School
Post by: karajorma on November 06, 2004, 06:11:51 pm
Quote
Originally posted by TopAce
In Hungary a few weeks ago, a building should have been destroyed using dynamite, or any remote-controlled exploding thing. The building was accidentally destroyed by the bomb controller 15 minutes before planned, because he inadvertantly pressed the button while explaining how the remote detonator is to be used for a rookie. It is most fortunate nobody was wounded.


Send that in to the Darwin Awards page! They have a whole section for Stupid Human Tricks that this is perfect for :D