Norwegian fighter jet mistakenly machine-guns control tower

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Norwegian fighter jet mistakenly machine-guns control tower

It is the second time in six years the tower has been fired on in error by F-16 jets – no one was injured either time

Agence France-Presse
Sunday 24 April 2016 23.34 EDT

A Norwegian fighter jet on a training exercise jet mistakenly machine-gunned a control tower with three officers inside, who survived unhurt, the military said Sunday.

Two F-16s were taking part in a mock attack on the uninhabited island of Tarva off Norway’s west coast when one of them opened fire with its M61 Vulcan cannon, which is capable of firing up to 100 rounds a second.

“An investigation has been opened,” Captain Brynjar Stordal, a spokesman for the Norwegian military, told AFP.

A hail of bullets hit the tower in the incident, which happened on the night of April 12, but the officers inside were not injured.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/25/whoops-norwegian-fighter-jet-mistakenly-machine-guns-control-tower

[burrowowl]

1. Interesting

[braddy]

2. For those who haven't been in the military, you aren't supposed to that.

[Old Crow]

3. LOL! Thanks for clearing that up. :) (N/T)

[Jerry442]

4. Lesson to tower crew.

Don't wave off an armed pilot who seriously has to pee.

[dembotoz]

5. funnier than the response i had

[Xipe Totec]

6. I put the fires out...

[whistler162]

7. One question was the same air traffic

controller on duty both times and did the big pair of reindeer ears on the tower have anything to do with the incident?

[christx30]

13. I'm picturing ATC wearing

hunter orange as a safety policy.

[whistler162]

8. Pilot failed course at Noirwegian fighter training base

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mb7b14d591a679e88863de6bfe8053ed0H0&pid=15.1 this is a Control Tower

https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mb151561790d5b5914c358c78ccc5f299H0&pid=15.1 this is a fighter jet

[bluevoter4life]

9. How in the heck does one mistake a control tower for something else at an airfield? eom

[happyslug]

10. This sounds like a night attack, the pilot saw nothing and going by instruments.

Thus the problem was the COMPUTER PROGRAM running the navigation program. The program was feed information that he was to shoot his 20mm rounds at position X. Somehow Position X on the computer was the control tower NOT the target. When I was in the Field Artillery we were taught NEVER to give out position to the Gun Bunnies shooting the actual cannons. The reason was simple, someone will confuse your locations with the target location and the next thing you know the rounds are coming down on you,

I suspect the tower was suppose to be on the Navigation/Targeting computer as something NOT to hit, but someone put it as the Target. Thus NOT the pilot's fault.

[burfman]

11. There was a camera in the control tower that captured the event....

[whistler162]

12. Or this

okay this is fake but still always a good chuckle.

[GummyBearz]

14. When Maverick was denied his fly by he just buzzed the tower

These guys are way more serious about their fly bys

[leveymg]

15. Either Norway makes mighty strong towers, or really lousy pilots.

[Kaleva]

16. A panel has decided that the underwear the officers were wearing cannot be cleaned

[Kaleva]

17. When you have this guy in the tower giving instructions to the pilot

[flamin lib]

18. He was just cleaning the cannon and it went off . . .

[left-of-center2012]

19. "opened fire ... up to 100 rounds a second"

"the officers inside were not injured"

Luck or bad aim?

[Initech]

20. Why am I reminded of the Southwest "Wanna get away" ads?

[Monk06]

21. It's the cans. He hates the cans.