ARIZONA DAILY STAR -- May 21, 2004 http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/metro/22929.php (with photo)

Singapore F-16 down near Ajo
Trainee pilot is killed; Luke fighters grounded

By Enric Volante and Michael Marizco
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

AJO - F-16 fighters remained grounded at Luke Air Force Base Thursday after
one of the jet planes plummeted "like a falling star" in the night, killing
the pilot and crashing about 25 miles southeast of Ajo.

The pilot, Lt. Loo Kwang Han, who went by Brandon Loo while training at
Luke, was a 25-year-old Singaporean pilot, said Capt. Vanessa Hillman, a
spokeswoman for Luke Air Force Base's 56th Fighter Wing.

The U.S. Air Force launched a search shortly after the plane, owned by the
Republic of Singapore air force, crashed at 9:54 p.m. Wednesday.

It took off from the base in Glendale with two other aircraft on a training
flight but lost radio contact about 45 minutes into the flight, officials
said.

Matthew Pebble, a construction worker who lives in the Tohono O'odham
Reservation village of Pisinimo, said he watched the lights of the F-16 from
his porch Wednesday night.

"It came down like a falling star in a straight line, and then - boom!" he
said, using his hands to imitate a blast.

Horses that roam the desert between Gu Vo District and Pisinimo District ran
screaming into the mesquite and cholla cacti from the fire. Minutes later,
two helicopters flew into the area, Pebble said. He did not know it was an
F-16 crash until Thursday morning.

The plane, which carried no bombs or missiles, was a single-seat F-16C
assigned to the base's 56th Fighter Wing. About 200 F-16s, which cost more
than $20 million each, are based at Luke. It trains about 1,000 pilots and
1,000 maintenance crew chiefs a year, including some from Singapore and
other U.S. allies.

"We are currently pausing our training operations to allow us some time to
stand down and review safety procedures," said spokeswoman Mary Jo May.

In May 2002, Maj. David Walker, a U.S. pilot, ejected from a Singapore air
force F-16 before it crashed on a flight out of Luke. He survived with
injury.

Investigators blamed the incident on a faulty turbine blade that caused a
massive fuel leak, turning the jet's PW-229 engine into a fireball.

In the latter half of last year, the U.S. Air Force identified 44 faulty
turbine blades in tests on its own F-16s at Luke. Air Force officials
installed new blades and intensified inspections. They said in January that
they had the problem under control.

Hillman said Thursday that the fatigued blades were not found in any
Singapore air force jets at Luke after the 2002 crash. "They did not have
that problem," she said.

Pilots from Singapore have trained at Luke for more than 20 years. The
nation has one of the most advanced air forces in Asia, but it often keeps
aircraft in other countries for training and maintenance.

Wednesday night's crash was about 10 miles west of Pisinimo, a village of
200 people, said Pisinimo District Chairman Johnson Jose.

"We've always been opposed to practicing maneuvers over us, but it still
happens," he said.

"Go try that over in Tucson and see how many times you get away with it
before they chase you off," he said.

Officials at the Hickiwan District, closer to Ajo, about 130 miles west of
Tucson, were also concerned about military maneuver missions over their
heads.

"We've always had plane crashes here," said Hickiwan District Chairman
Manuel Osequeda. He's counted at least 10 in the area since he became
chairman 13 years ago, he said. "It's not going to be long before they slam
into one of our villages."

The U.S. Air Force lost one life every 33 days and one aircraft every 17
days at a cost of $1.33 million per day last year, according to the Air
Force Safety Center. That doesn't include combat losses.

Loo Kwang Han attained his pilot wings in July 2001 and became an F-16 pilot
in January 2003, Hillman said.