[Goose]

Ukraine lost an F16 earlier this week due to a crash, attributed to pilot error. Noncombat.

https://www.wsj.com/world/ukrainian-f-16...h-4f6d66f6

Unfortunate. I guess we are not really certain that it was a "crash". It may be the Ukrainians would rather admit to a crash than that a Russian missile strike was successful. There are good tactical as well as political reasons for them to do so. OTOH it may have been a crash, perhaps partly due to a long day chasing drones by a relatively inexperienced pilot. If it was a crash, I hope the pilot is OK, either because he punched out or because the "crash" wasn't all that bad. Stuff happens. Losses due to operations are real. Losing aircraft is bad. Losing pilots is worse, they are harder to replace.

[Goose]

Ukraine lost an F16 earlier this week due to a crash, attributed to pilot error. Noncombat.

https://www.wsj.com/world/ukrainian-f-16...h-4f6d66f6

Unfortunate. I guess we are not really certain that it was a "crash". It may be the Ukrainians would rather admit to a crash than that a Russian missile strike was successful. There are good tactical as well as political reasons for them to do so. OTOH it may have been a crash, perhaps partly due to a long day chasing drones by a relatively inexperienced pilot. If it was a crash, I hope the pilot is OK, either because he punched out or because the "crash" wasn't all that bad. Stuff happens. Losses due to operations are real. Losing aircraft is bad. Losing pilots is worse, they are harder to replace.