Panel falls from Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon during air show in Japan
By HANA KUSUMOTO AND SETH ROBSON
STARS AND STRIPES • June 7, 2022
A small panel fell off an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon during an air show Sunday in Japan, according to American and Japanese officials.
The four-pound panel, measuring approximately 10 inches by 10 inches, fell from a fighter assigned to Misawa Air Base, home of the 35th Fighter Wing in northeast Japan, a Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Japanese government officials typically speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
The panel was missing during an inspection after the jet, from the 13th Fighter Squadron, made a demonstration flight during an air show at the Japan Air-Self Defense Force’s Hofu Kita Air Base in Yamaguchi prefecture, the spokesman said.
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2022-06-07/misawa-japan-f16-dropped-part-6258769.html
