A preliminary report on the midair collision between an F-16 and a Cessna on July 7 in South Carolina details air-traffic control’s instructions to the fighter pilot in the moments before the aircraft smashed into each other but does not assign fault.
According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board, the controller warned the F-16 pilot of “traffic” ahead moments before the crash but the report does not conclude whether the ATC’s instructions during the event were correct.
The pilot and passenger in the Cessna were killed. The damaged F-16 continued to fly for three minutes before the pilot, Air Force Maj. Aaron Johnson, ejected safely, the report said. The F-16 was destroyed when it crashed to the ground about 25 miles north of Charleston.
The report said the F-16 was flying from Myrtle Beach International Airport to Charleston Air Force Base/International Airport. Several minutes before the crash, the pilot asked air traffic control to practice an instrument approach to the airport. Minutes later, what turned out to be the Cessna flashed on air traffic radar.
Seconds after 11 a.m., the controller advised the pilot of the F-16, “traffic 12 o’clock, 2 miles, opposite direction, 1,200 [feet altitude] indicated, type unknown.”
The F-16 pilot said he was looking for the traffic. Eight seconds later, the controller advised the F-16 pilot, “Turn left heading 180 if you don’t have that traffic in sight.”
The pilot responded by asking, “Confirm 2 miles?”
Eight seconds later, the controller stated, “if you don’t have that traffic in sight turn left heading 180 immediately.” That turn, with the Cessna in a climbing turn, put the two aircraft on a deadly collision course. The F-16 did begin to turn, the report said. Seconds later, the controller advised the F-16 pilot, “traffic passing below you 1,400 feet.” Less than a minute later, the F-16 pilot transmitted a distress call “and no subsequent transmissions were received.”
The NTSB said its investigation was continuing. The final report will focus on what caused the crash.
Johnson’s F-16 “Fighting Falcon” was from the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. Col. Stephen Jost, commander of the 20th Fighter Wing, said Johnson had been participating in a standard instrument training. He called Johnson a “highly experienced” pilot. Johnson has returned to flying status, according to Shaw public affairs.
The pilot of the Cessna, Joseph Johnson, 30, and his passenger father, Michael Johnson, 68, both of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, died of accidental, blunt force and body trauma, a coroner found.
