F-16 straffs school in New Jersey

[HardcoreRobot]

"He does not know what happened that led to the school getting shot up."
Does this sound unprofessional to anyone else?

<---- anal

interesting story though. i guess its time to abolish schools bc they are apparently dangerous! ha ha

 

[TitanDiddly]

Also, this reminds me of the Canadian/American live fire incident in Iraq. The pilot was blamed, but had almost nothing to do with what happened. Is this a similar case? I assume that the pilot is given coordinates to fire on, so it could very well be the mission coordinator's fault. However, Unless it was one of the pilot's first missions, he should know the base's approxamate coordinates and be able to recognize whether the target he is given is 3.5 miles away. Is the pilot able to tell what something 7000 feet below is, at night?

I'd be wary of pointing all fingers at the pilot before looking at more details.

 

[tweakmm]

Whoops.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: maddogchen
they should not put schools within 20 miles of a live fire target range. Or anything with civilians nearby.

The range was there long before the area was developed. Not the military's fault.

 

[TechnoKid]

If the palne was 7,000 feet directly above the intended target, the bullet had to travel at an angle of approx 24 degrees from the horizontal (66 from the vertical), and for 17,317 feet. Illustrated here. This is assuming a lot of thing for the calculations here, and everything is approximate.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
If the palne was 7,000 feet directly above the intended target, the bullet had to travel at an angle of approx 24 degrees from the horizontal (66 from the vertical), and for 17,317 feet. Illustrated here. This is assuming a lot of thing for the calculations here, and everything is approximate.

ummm assuming of course that he was over the range...

i have a feeling that the pilot was over the school and was acutally aiming for the school thinking it was the real target. The Janitor heard a noise as if sombody was running on the roof. that tells me that the pilot acutally aimed for the school for a straff.

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
If the palne was 7,000 feet directly above the intended target, the bullet had to travel at an angle of approx 24 degrees from the horizontal (66 from the vertical), and for 17,317 feet. Illustrated here. This is assuming a lot of thing for the calculations here, and everything is approximate.

ummm assuming of course that he was over the range...

i have a feeling that the pilot was over the school and was acutally aiming for the school thinking it was the real target. The Janitor heard a noise as if sombody was running on the roof. that tells me that the pilot acutally aimed for the school for a straff.

Of course. It [the article] doesn't say whether or not he was.

Edit: (you edited while i posted...) 2 inch long bullets going throuhg a schools roof would make the same sound regardless if the plane was directly above the school or not. Of course the bullet would have much less velocity from such a distance....

 

[LordMorpheus]

Night mission. The target was probably an old concrete bunker or mound or something. At 7000 feet at night, just about every building looks the same.

I wouldn't blame the pilot.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Ooops!

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Night mission. The target was probably an old concrete bunker or mound or something. At 7000 feet at night, just about every building looks the same.

I wouldn't blame the pilot.

I would. its his job for correct target ID before he pulls the trigger. that could have been a HQ for some army unit in Iraq.

 

[PoPPeR]

was the person flying the plane named Calvin and was his copilot a stuffed tiger named Hobbes?

 

[Bootprint]

Now if I only knew which school it was, then I could rate it as draft due to holes in the roof. greatschools.net

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Night mission. The target was probably an old concrete bunker or mound or something. At 7000 feet at night, just about every building looks the same.

I wouldn't blame the pilot.

BS...in the military he has responsibility unless it's a mechanical error.
he pulled the trigger...his A$$ is grass...as it should be.

 

[arcas]

The pilot of the single-seat jet was supposed to fire at a target on the ground three and half miles away from school...

You mean someone constructed an elementary school a mere 3.5 miles from an aircraft target range??? WTF?

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Citrix

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Night mission. The target was probably an old concrete bunker or mound or something. At 7000 feet at night, just about every building looks the same.

I wouldn't blame the pilot.

I would. its his job for correct target ID before he pulls the trigger. that could have been a HQ for some army unit in Iraq.

I just showed this to a couple of military guys I work with, and we were discussing what would happen. I said "well, he probably won't every fly" and my he basically said that since no one was injured it would likely only get a slap on the wrist.

:shocked:

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

:Q

OMGRANDOMSHOOTINGWITH20MMCANNONS!!!!!1111ONEONE!!111!!!

 

[Pocatello]

This guy career as a fighter pilot is finished, fair or not.

 

[Bootprint]

I wonder what the guys real job is, I hope he isn't a commercial pilot.


Hmmm, I wonder if landing at the wrong airport is very common, link

 

[sygyzy]

Nothing's going to happen to him. Maybe honorable discharge at worst.

 

[Fenixgoon]

looks like the US is finally gonna clean up jersey!

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: OulOat
The article states that the Air Force was using the range long before the school was built, so I see it as the school's own damn fault for being so close to the range.

No kidding. That's like people building their houses right next to an airport and then complaining about how loud it is.

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
I just showed this to a couple of military guys I work with, and we were discussing what would happen. I said "well, he probably won't every fly" and my he basically said that since no one was injured it would likely only get a slap on the wrist.

:shocked:

In most cases that would shock me. In this case, less so, since it was a night flight, the school was only 3 miles away, and as mentioned all buildings look the same at night. An F-16 covers 3 miles awfully quickly.

 

[Psycho18]

:Q

 

[alm4rr]

there must have been come Canadians at the school....

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Originally posted by: PoPPeR
was the person flying the plane named Calvin and was his copilot a stuffed tiger named Hobbes?

except that calvin was in a F-15!!! and he shot a missile at the school. he didn't straff it.

and he was flying alone.

 

[no0b]

I love how whenever something like this its always an elementary school.