National Guard F-16 Has In-Flight Emergency

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(Host) A Vermont National Guard F-16 jet had an "in-flight" emergency this morning and had to jettison its external fuel tanks into Lake Champlain.

The jet made a safe landing back at the Air National Guard base at Burlington International Airport.

Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd Goodrow says the pilot reported that the thrust and throttle responses on the F-16 were irregular.

(Goodrow) "The responses were not as expected and, again we always play better safe than sorry. That’s the number one rule. Safety is our highest priority. So anything irregular, you abort the mission and turn around and go back and that’s exactly what happened."

(Host) The jet was on a routine "readiness" training exercise. F-16s at the Air Guard have been training more heavily recently in advance of an Air Force inspection scheduled for early next year.

The jet declared an emergency 13 minutes after it took off. The F-16 remained in the air for about a half hour more to burn off extra fuel.

While over Lake Champlain, the pilot released two external tanks containing about 70 gallons of fuel.

One of the tanks was found later in the day about a mile-and-a-half off Willsboro Point, New York. The Guard says there was no sign any fuel leaked. A search is still going on for the other tank.

The jet landed safely 46 minutes after it took off. There were no injuries.

The National Guard is investigating and also called in the Coast Guard.

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