One of the best-known military jet demonstrations currently active, the Turkish Air Force’s ‘Solo Turk’ F-16 team, appears to have had an extremely close call at a recent airshow. Footage of the incident has appeared widely on social media, as well as unconfirmed reports of an investigation into what happened. Based on what we can see from the available videos, the pilot seems to have had a very lucky escape with the jet intact.
Çakılmaktan son anda kurtulan Solotürk F-16’sı, üzerine geldiği kişi tarafından kaydedildi.
Uçuş kontrol bilgisayarında arıza oluşması ile ters kumanda veren F-16, incelemeler için hangara çekildi. pic.twitter.com/JWM3R74638
— Avionot (@avionot) October 4, 2024
The videos show the specially painted Block 30 F-16C performing in the hands of the Solo Turk demo pilot at the Teknofest aerospace and technology festival in Adana in southern Turkey. The incident appears to have taken place yesterday, with the festival running from October 2-6.
At the end of the airshow display, the pilot waggles the wings and then performs a roll above the runway, but the nose of the F-16 drops alarmingly, leaving the jet inverted and pointing toward the ground — and seemingly also near the crowd line. Based on where the available videos are shot from, it’s not easy to tell exactly how close to the ground the aircraft got, but it certainly appears alarming, especially considering the fighter jet speeds involved.
TWZ spoke to one former fast jet pilot who gave their opinion on the footage, observing that the distance between the F-16 and the ground at the lowest point appears to be “a small number of wingspans.”
“It might have been that the pilot wanted to do some form of hesitation roll and actually paused at 180 degrees — but even so that requires you to really hawk your velocity vector,” the same pilot added.
A previous display routine seen from the cockpit of the Solo Turk F-16:
Whatever the case, it seems almost certain that the airshow organizers would have called for the display sequence to be terminated, were it not that the pilot was already on their final pass.
The fighter pilot we spoke to also considered it “highly likely that the display director would have red-carded the pilot.”
Rolling maneuvers of any kind in close proximity to the ground require great skill and precision on the part of the pilot, and the jet’s nose placement has to be very closely monitored at all times.
It may be the case that the pilot was not at fault here, though.
There are unconfirmed reports that the F-16 may have had some kind of flight-control system malfunction, leading to an uncontrolled dive, which the pilot then reacted to, climbing out.
Reports from Turkey state that an investigation has now been launched into exactly what happened.
In the meantime, the Solo Turk F-16 display remains one of the best-regarded on the European airshow circuit and one that has an excellent safety record. The Solo Turk team — which operates out of Konya Air Base — has around a dozen personnel, including two pilots, plus a CN235 support aircraft and has received several awards for its airshow performances.
For now, the dramatic footage is a reminder of the very line between a breathtaking airshow routine and disaster. The fact that such close calls are a relatively rare occurrence speaks to the preparation and close cooperation between air forces and airshow organizers to ensure that these displays remain safe — and spectacular.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com