Another headline about another F-16 crashing -- two this week

The Associated Press
June 14, 2003

GILA BEND - An F-16 fighter jet based at Luke Air Force Base crashed yesterday near Gila Bend, a base spokesman said.
The pilot, Capt. Scott Arbogast, ejected safely and was examined by medical officials, said 1st Lt. Jeff Clark, a spokesman for the base west of Phoenix.

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(JAG Hunter note: The Air Force has some 'splainin' to do. F-16s are falling from the sky like raindrops. Over 300 crashes since 2000. One suspects if we had a super carrier sink once every three years without explanation folks would take more notice. But a plane here, a plane there...no big deal. Maybe if it were reported 100 Boeing 737s augured in every year, it would resonate. Each one of these single engine high-performance F-16 costs about $20 million to put on the flight line. 300 in 3 years pencils out to $6 billion. That's not to mention the increase on life insurance policies for the F-16 pilots. Two crashes in a week!! Time to ground the fleet, investigate, and report to us all.