Duck!!

[blueboss]

http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=2&from=en-us_msnhp#/video/9bdeec23-0139-49d6-3a2f-837f496b1e5f

[CitizenBBN]

Wow. Not sure that was a F-16 though. Flew like a Harrier jump jet, which is far more common in the British military, where this appears to have been shot.

what the heck are people doing hanging out at the end of a runway anyway?

[suncat05]

That plane is an F-16 Fighting Falcon that was landing. However, from what I know about U.S. military aviation, that plane was landing on a foreign air field. U.S. doctrine & practice DO NOT allow the public anywhere near a U. S. military air installation. Most especially not a runway where multi-million dollar warplanes would be landing. And there would be USAF Security Police securing the landing zone.
If you'll look in the still picture afterwards you will see people wearing some type of blue/white uniforms, and the hats they're wearing are not U.S. issue, at least not that I know of. This happened outside the U.S., and whoever the host nation is apparently doesn't know how to control their perimeters very well. And they have little regard for our pilots and the warplanes.

[suncat05]

CBBN- the jet in the still picture, where I saw the foreign uniforms, also appears to be an F-16. A Harrier "jump jet" has sort of a snubby nose, with the air intakes just behind & underneath the pilot(IIRC, from friend or foe identification classes/cards from when I was in the Army) , and the wings are on top of the plane frame, not on the bottom like the F-16.

If that was a U.S. air base those people would NEVER have gotten that close to the landing strip. That is just not allowed at an American air base. And if they somehow did get that close, they're being detained, and if they resist those USAF Security Police are authorized to use deadly force.

[CitizenBBN]

suncat I watched it again and it's definitely a F-16 (built models of them as a kid) but it sure looked like it was pausing so much on approach that it had to be a vectored exhaust. I guess the line of sight made it looked more stalled than it was when I watched it the first time.

I agree on arresting those folks, though as you said no military runway would be at the edge of a civilian road like that. No runway at all should be that close other than maybe for private prop planes. There are some that sure feel that close though at airports I've flown into, where you feel like you're about to land on the freeway.

[suncat05]

Yeah, I can name you one of those: Ninoy Aquino International in Manila, the Philippines.