An Iraqi brigadier general training in the United States for four years was flying an F-16 aircraft that crashed near Douglas, a spokesman for the Iraqi defense minister said Thursday.
The pilot remained unaccounted for nearly 24 hours later.
“We have no word yet on his fate or the reason behind the crash,” Brig. Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim told The Associated Press. “We are in contact with the Americans to get more details.”
Ibrahim confirmed the pilot is Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammed Hassan.
An Air Force official with the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard said Thursday afternoon that efforts were underway to locate Hassan. He said the efforts will continue until Hassan is found.
“The status of the pilot is still unknown at this time,” said the official, who did not give his name. He said it was not known if Hassan ejected from the plane.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed at about 8 p.m. Wednesday in grassland 5 miles east of the Douglas airport during a training mission, Arizona Air National Guard spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Lacey Roberts said in a news release.
The pilot was enrolled in the international training program in Tucson run by the Guard’s 162nd Wing, which includes about 40 students from Iraq, Singapore, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Oman, Belgium and the Netherlands, Roberts said Thursday.
The plane flown by the Iraqi pilot belonged to the Iraqi Air Force, Roberts said. Iraq bought F-16s from Lockheed Martin, but “due to the security situation” in Iraq, some of the aircraft were delivered to Arizona.
Hassan was in an F-16 purchased by the Iraqi Air Force either in 2011 or 2012, the Air Force official said.
Initial reports indicated two military planes may have crashed, but it was actually just one of the two planes that were training together.
The Air Force official said he did not have information on where the other pilot in the training mission landed, or if he witnessed or reported the crash. He also said he could not say if that pilot also was a student. “Those are details that will be ironed out by the U.S. Air Force safety board inquiry that has begun,” the official said. He could not say how long the investigation would take.
He said he also did not know if the crash would temporarily interrupt the training program. However, he made clear the program would not end. “The 162nd Wing will continue its strong partnership with Iraqi students here, and by working with our partners we will continue to achieve our common national interests,” the official said.
Eyewitness accounts
Retired Marine Michael Miller saw the plane go down from the front yard of his home, in the 1600 block of East Via Ocotillo, about a quarter-mile from the crash site.
“The planes sounded like they were flying low so I came out front,” he said.
Miller watched as two fighter jets that had just completed a circle began to fly back around to circle a second time.
“The lead jet came and banked to the left then the second started to bank left and went straight down,” he said. “It didn’t skid in, it just went straight down.”
The plane caught fire immediately when it hit the ground, Miller said.
He and a neighbor drove up a back road to the crash site, less than five minutes away, and saw two large fires about 20 yards away from the jet’s fuselage.
“There were no blinking lights; there was no one there,” he said. “There was very thick smoke and I was worried about fuel and armory.”
Miller saw the signs indicating a nearby gas line and he and his friend left the area.
Within 10 minutes of the crash, he saw emergency vehicles arrive.
“I never heard the canopy go and I didn’t see the pilot eject,” he said.
Miller’s neighbors, Angie and Juan Leon, said their house shook when the plane hit the ground.
“We came outside and saw all the fire,” Juan said. “You could see the plane.”
They watched as more than 30 emergency vehicles arrived at the crash site and said they heard planes flying overhead throughout the night.
Down the street at a birthday party for her son, their daughter Raquel Leon Toscano was sitting in the backyard with family members when she saw what she described as “bright lights,” prompting her to run to the front of her house.
“I thought it was a bomb at first because I heard the crash and another plane. Then I saw an explosion,” Toscano said.
She was unable to get through to 911 for several attempts and when she finally reached an operator, he immediately asked her if she was calling about an explosion.
Dozens of F-16s ordered
The Iraqi government ordered 18 F-16s in 2011 for $3 billion and 18 more in 2012, Reuters reported.
The Guard began training Iraqi pilots in 2012 at the request of the Iraqi government, and the first Iraqi F-16 arrived in December 2014, Roberts said. Since then, the Guard has received one Iraqi F-16 each month.
Initial reports incorrectly said two F-16 fighters were involved in the crash. Roberts clarified that two aircraft were involved in the training mission but only one aircraft crashed. The Iraqi pilot was the only person aboard the crashed F-16.
Rescue crews were at the scene of the crash, she said, adding that the pilot will be identified by the Iraqi government.
The fire delayed law enforcement from immediately investigating the crash site.
An initial report to 911 came from a woman who said “there was an airplane on fire in her front yard,” said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department.
She said the wreck burned an area of grassland some 400 yards wide and nearly a quarter-mile long. The fire continued to smolder Thursday morning, but it had been declared contained since Wednesday night.
Initial reports indicated that the F-16 might have ruptured a nearby gas line, but Capas said Thursday it did not.
Air Force personnel began searching through the debris Thursday morning and were expected to remain at the crash scene through the weekend.
“They need to closely study all the information and see if he is still in the general area,” Capas said. “They have to search through the debris field.”
Air Force personnel are acting as security for the first perimeter of the crash site, and Cochise County Sheriff’s Department personnel are handling security for the second perimeter of the site, Capas said.
