The pilot of the F16 that crashed in Arizona has been identified. Per AP reports, he is Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammed Hassan, Iraqi Air Force.
Brig. Gen Hassan had been training in the US on the F16 in order to use it against ISIS/ISIL/whatever that gang of murderous thugs is called today. His status is still formally unknown.
Update: Brig. Gen. Hassan did not survive. His remains have been located.
Godspeed, General. May He grant you be found alive and well.
(Updated to reflect confirmation of Brig. Gen. Hassan’s death and recovery of remains.)
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16 responses to “Arizona F16 Crash – Update”
Prayers for your safe return, General.
In other news…local Arizona farmers capture and kill a suspected Muslim terrorist who stole a U.S. plane. According to source close to the small farm community. One farmer who asked to remain anonymous said, “We knew they’s a coming someday, jus didn’t think it’d be round here. But we got him, we got him good too. Won’t be stealing our gubment airplanes again! Hell he coulda been bombing one of our silos ur sumthin”.
Folks, I do sincerely wish the General well and hope he is found alive. I just had that thought come across my mind of the what ifs.
My wife’s family lives in an area used by student pilots at Columbus AFB in Mississippi. A few years ago an Arab pilot just missed a farm house and put his plane down in a pine forest. The reception that he got wasn’t much different from what you described.
read somewhere he has been in training here 4 years? Maybe someone knows how long it takes to train a Falcon jock – that seems a very long training cycle. What was he, a major when he got here?
My first thought is that these Iraqi bastards come over here, get trained, then take it home and use it against our guys!!
Best wishes for BG Hassan. Anyone who fights against ISIS has my respect.
Didn’t one we trained just defect to ISIS a couple of weeks ago?
Well, Edward Snowden defected to Russia, right?
And what about Bradley Manning, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hannsen, John Walker, etc., etc,?
At some point, to get the job done, you’ve got to trust somebody. And, people being people, some percentage of those you trusted will end up disappointing you.
So, what are you gonna do?
You zoomies tell me if’n I’m wrong, but I don’t think you’d see any U.S. flag officers behind the wheel.
OC
It happens. I got coined by a 3-star in Iraq after a sortie. They have to get their hours in like any other pilot to keep their wings.
Indeed, Torinojohn. And on rare occasions, like this guy they don’t make it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Bond
I’ve read elsewhere that Maj Gen Bond’s death lead to a USAF ban on GOs flying experimental or test aircraft. I don’t know whether or not that’s true.
Yep, even Generals want that flight pay! Although they can be scary to fly with because they only fly the minimum to stay current on annual flight hours.
Brigadier General Chuck Yeager might have been an exception. (grin)
Nope.
Laredo AFB. We had Arabs in my class who had been there for years. The only element of benefit they brought was that they could cross the border and buy unlimited cheap booze. Other than that they were pretty damn much useless..
Reports this AM indicate that Brig Gen Hassan’s remains have been located.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/06/27/iraq-confirms-pilot-died-in-military-plane-crash-in-arizona.html
RIP, Brig Gen Hassan.
Call me Pauly Paranoid, but does anyone else at least consider an insider’s hands from ISIS may have had something to do with this event?