Some residents in grand Traverse County were ordered to evacuate on Thursday, Sept. 17 after a Texas Air National Guard F-16went down near County Road 633 near Blair Townhall Road and spilled a hazardous chemical.
The pilot ejected safely, and was listed in stable condition receiving medical care, officials said.
The Texas Air National Guard, specifically the 149th Fighter Wing, was training at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Master Sgt. Agustin Salazar said.
Munson Medical Center said the evacuation was because the plane carried a "hazardous chemical called hydrazine." The chemical is used in the emergency power unit.
What is F-16?
AnF-16 Fighting Falconis a multi-role fighter aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force has about 1,000
planes in service. The jets are in service inabout 30 nations. F-16.net says the jet is in service with 40 U.S. Air National Guard squadrons.
How many pilots does an F-16 have?
F-16s are single-engine jets normally crewed by one pilot.
The F-16B, a two-seat model, was introduced with tandem cockpits that were about the same size as the one in the A model. To make room for the second cockpit, the forward fuselage fuel tank and avionics growth space were reduced. During training, the forward cockpit is used by a student pilot with an instructor pilot in the rear cockpit.
The F-16C carries one pilot and the F-16D can have one or two.
The aircraft that crashed was carrying one person.
What weapons do F-16s carry?
The fighter has one M-61A1 20mm multibarrel cannon that carries up to 500 rounds.
The aircraft can carry two 2,000-pound bombs, 2 AIM-9, two AIM-120 and two 2,400-pound external fuel tanks.
How long has the F-16 been in service?
The F-16A, a single-seat model, first flew in December 1976. The first operational F-16A was delivered in January 1979 to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
How big are F-16s? How fast can they go?
The fighter is 49.5 feet long, 16 feet tall with a 32-foot, 8-inch wingspan. The aircraft weighs about 19,700 pounds.
The single Pratt and Whitney or General Electric engine can propel the jet at up to 1,500 mph with a range of up to 2,002 miles.
Why do F-16s carry hydrazine?
Hydrazineis a "volatile and highly toxic monopropellant used in the Emergency Power Unit (EPU) of F-16 aircraft," according to the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine.
The aircraft carries about 56 pounds or 6.8 gallons of a water and hydrazine mixture to power the unit.
Free Press reporter Darcie Moran contributed reporting.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How many pilots does an F-16 carry? What we know about crashed jet
