A best friend of mine thats definitely in the know just told me 2 F-16’s mid-aired off the coast of CHS. 1 made it to CHS AFB and the other is unkown. Anyone know anything about this? I have a feeling this will be news tomorrow…
f-16.net has an article about it and an associated forum. They’re reporting that “the crash” happened 40 mi ne of our coast, but the search area is 10 mi off our coast, so I’m assuming that they have info that the missing pilot was attempting to make it back when the plane went down. Hopefully, he would have ejected when it became apparent that the plane wasn’t going to make it. They’ve been searching all night, but it’s incredibly foggy here this morning and visibility is extremely low - I’m praying that he’s in the water waiting to be found.
Where is Shaw AFB?
In Sumter, SC. It’s approximately halfway between Columbia and Myrtle Beach. It’s about an hour drive from where I am (Charleston, SC). Shaw AFB is a big F-16 base on the east coast.
Or, you could have just clicked here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaw_afb
I Got ya. Thanks for the link! 
How many F-16’s are there? It was probably on the link, but I could not fin it… 
Shaw AFB is NW of Charleston SC.
It’s home to the 20th Fighter Wing, which have about 80 Viper CJ’s, (F-16CJ),
and also home to the Viper East Airshow F-16’s - anyone viewing an airshow on the West coast would have seen their Vipers.
Missing crew member is Captain Nicholas Giglio, from the 20th Fighter Wing here, and his aircraft are missing and a search is underway.
OK, thanks!
Here’s an article from our paper about it, with a map of the Shaw/Charleston area:
I wonder how much damage the one had, that landed? 
My buddy that works at the base saw it last night when it came in. He said it was in really bad shape and was surprised it made it back. Being that F-16’s generally aren’t known for their resilience (i.e. warthogs and that F-15 that returned missing a wing), I’m not really sure what that meant. He also said that the pilot that returned was extremely shaken up (definitely understandable) upon landing. That’ll no doubt mess with him for the rest of his life. I actually just met an F-16 pilot from Shaw about 2 weeks ago at a restaurant when my girlfriend and I were travelling to a Clemson game. I picked him apart over the couse of about a half hour - asking him everything imaginable, while my gf gave me dirty stares. He was an extremely nice and patient guy - thank God the missing pilot isn’t him, although this isn’t any better. My thoughts are definitely with both of these men and their families.
Does the girlfriend like aviation? 
about as much as I like Grey’s Anatomy, but she puts up with it. It’s understandable - after 10 years of being dragged to every airshow on the east coast, sitting in parking lots watching planes on the approach, hearing me talk nonstop about aviation and living with our roommate that’s in the AFB (the one that told me about the crash), she’s no doubt grown tired of it, but she knows I love it so she puts up with it. I think she’s finally growing to like it after all these years maybe - I know she’s proud of herself when she can correctly point out a P-3 in the sky, or tell the difference between a 152 and 172 sitting on the ramp. She definitely listens to what I’m telling her (which is more than I can say regarding her legal cases), so I know she has somewhat of an interest.
UPDATE - Coast Guard just held a news conference and said that they’re still looking and holding out hope, but that the ELT’s have NOT been activated - contrary to what I was told by someone that would know. They also are saying that they’ve received reports of an oil slick and a debris field, although I hope those are just rumors. Either way, it doesn’t sound good at all.
updated story:
postandcourier.com/news/2009 … ina-coast/
and an update to the update - the debris field and oil slick has been confirmed. I pray for him and his family. definitely not the ending I was hoping for…
Just lost a man that was helping keep our country, “free”.
UPDATE: They’re saying that the pilot is still missing and presumed to have been killed instantly at contact with the other jet. I still have alot of questions, but very, very sad nonetheless. I’ve been following this since I was notified Thursday night - exactly what I hoped was not going to happen…
postandcourier.com/news/2009 … instantly/
better article, but even sadder…
It’s a dangerous business. Very unfortunate.