AeroTime
• Clement Charpentreau
A U.S. Air Force F-16 assigned to Spangdahlem Air Base in western Germany crashed Tuesday while attempting to land after a routine training exercise. The pilot ejected safely and was receiving medical care; the cause was not immediately known, and the aircraft was the second USAF F-16 involved in an incident in a week.
Accident
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A U.S. Air Force F-16 assigned to Spangdahlem Air Base in western Germany crashed Tuesday while attempting to land after a routine training exercise. The pilot ejected safely and was receiving medical care; the cause was not immediately known, and the aircraft was the second USAF F-16 involved in an incident in a week.
A Royal Navy Merlin HC4 helicopter ditched fatally after its crew misdiagnosed an emergency and shut down two functioning engines while attempting to land on HMS Queen Elizabeth at night. The crew had intended to practice night deck landings, according to the report.
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French investigators are examining whether runway lighting standards and surface-movement radar use should change after an inbound Nouvelair A320 aligned with the wrong runway at night and overflew a waiting easyJet aircraft at Nice last year, creating a serious proximity event.
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A Fly Precision Eurocopter AS332L1 crashed Sept. 20 while conducting water drops on Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-acre Dome Fire, killing both crewmembers. The incident highlights the operational risks facing rotary-wing crews supporting wildfire suppression in complex terrain and demanding conditions.
Two gliders collided while en route to Piseco Airport in upstate New York, killing one pilot. The pilot of the second glider landed safely, according to the available reporting; the incident highlights the safety risks involved in operating multiple gliders in shared airspace.
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France’s BEA reenacted the nighttime approach at Nice Airport to examine how runway lighting may have affected a serious incident involving Nouvelair and easyJet aircraft. The evidence-gathering exercise is intended to clarify the visual cues available to crews and the contribution of airport lighting to the event.
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Delta Flight 394, an Airbus A321neo carrying 189 passengers from Kahului to Seattle, diverted to Honolulu after fumes were reported in the cabin shortly after departure. Several passengers were taken to an emergency room, while the crew followed established procedures during the incident.
EASA and Eurostat’s 2025 Annual Safety Review records 116 people killed in accidents occurring within EU territory or involving EU-registered aircraft. The report quantifies deaths and injuries across those accidents, providing the latest European-wide measure of aviation safety outcomes.
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