MIDAIR CRASHES The following are three examples of midair crashes involving military aircraft. F-16 FIGHTING FALCON VS. C-130E HERCULES: An F-16 collided with a C-130E at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., March 23, 1994. The mishap killed 24 members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, making it the worst peacetime lost of life suffered by the Division since the end of World War II. It also injured more than 80 people. The mishap destroyed the F-16, as well as a C-141 Starlifter that was parked on the ramp. An investigation placed most of the blame on military and civilian air traffic controllers; however, pilot error by the F-16 pilots also contributed to the mishap, a later report said. F16 FIGHTING FALCON VS. CESSNA 172: An F-16 from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., collided with a civilian Cessna Nov. 16, 2000, near Bradenton, Fla. The Cessna pilot was killed in the mishap; the F-16 pilot ejected and survived with only minor injuries. Both aircraft were destroyed. Investigators identified two causes of the mishap. First, the pilots failed to "see and avoid" each other in sufficient time to prevent the mishap. Second, Tampa air traffic controllers failed to transmit a safety alert to the Cessna pilot when their radar system generated "Conflict Alert" warnings, indicating that two aircraft were in danger of a collision. T-37B TWEET VS. AIR TRACTOR AT-502B CROP DUSTER: A T-37B crew out of Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, collided with a civilian AT-502B four miles east of Hollister, Texas, Jan. 18, 2005. The crop duster pilot sustained fatal injuries; the Air Force instructor and student pilots ejected safely with only minor injuries. Both aircraft were destroyed. Investigators found two causes for the mishap. First, both aircrews failed to "see and avoid" each other. Second, the civilian pilot departed under visual flight rules in the air tractor on a ferry flight through a military transit corridor, but he did not adequately assess the risks of doing so without a transponder and without making calls on his handheld radio. -- Air Education and Training Command Flight Safety Division