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South Dakota Wing Assists F-16 Crash Investigation

May 17, 2022

South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol, flew an airborne photography mission for the South Dakota Air National Guard's 114th Fighter Wing on Thursday, May 12.  The aircrew photographed the scene where an F-16 assigned to the South Dakota Air National Guard’s 114th Fighter Wing went off the end of a runway.

“Our crew was in the air barely three hours after South Dakota Wing received its first request for support, and less than two hours after CAP’s National Operations Center approved the mission,” said Col. Michael Marek, CAP’s incident commander for the mission. “This was one of the first airborne uses of our recently updated camera system.”

The fighter wing said that the F-16 went off a runway Wednesday, May 11 at Joe Foss Field Sioux Falls. The pilot was returning from a routine training mission and was not injured.

“Even though we train to do this every day, there is still risk involved. We are grateful that no one was harmed in this incident,” said Col. Mark Morrell, 114th Fighter Wing commander.

The air guard’s investigation board will use the photographs taken by South Dakota Wing to understand the entire scene, such as the position of skid marks on the runway.  

“We can't show any of the photos on this sortie to the public,” said Marek, “because they are strictly for the use of the investigators.
 

Tagged As: Photography Volunteering

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