Courtesy photo, via Davis-Monthan public affairs.
Severe winds Sunday caused a retired F-16 to briefly take to the air again at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, boneyard this week.
Winds recorded at about 65 mph miles per hour hit the boneyard, where retired aircraft sit in storage, and flipped lightweight F-16 flipped onto another Falcon. The steel cable tie-downs that were used to secure the aircraft snapped due to the high winds. The jet had recently had its engine removed, which made it light enough to go airborne, according to a base news release.
The base lost power at about 7 p.m. Sunday night. Civil engineers at the base were able to restore power to all but three facilities by Monday afternoon. Some buildings were damaged during the storm, according to the base.
There has been no cost assessment of the damage, according to base public affairs. No injuries were reported, and flying operations returned to normal Monday afternoon, the release states.
