Moment F-16 fighter jet EXPLODES and another is damaged in Belgium after mechanic repairing a third jet accidentally opened fire with its Gatling cannon - F-16-Florennes-3.jpg ...

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*Multi-million pound stealth jet was destroyed after bursting into flames at
base

•Second jet damaged by fire after technician accidentally fired from third
fighter

•Stealth plane was fired on from jet parked in hanger as maintenance carried out

•Two workers at Florennes base in Belgium suffer hearing damage after accident

A multi-million-pound fighter jet exploded and another was damaged when a
mechanic accidentally opened fire from a third plane during maintenance.

The F-16 Falcon jet was destroyed in the blaze as it was parked at a military
base in Belgium and the second plane sitting next to it suffered fire damage
from the on-board Gatling cannon.

Two technicians working on the Belgian Air Force stealth planes were said to
have been injured in the incident at the Florennes air base, 60 miles south of
Brussels, on Thursday afternoon.

It is understood maintenance staff were repairing the F-16 which was parked in a
hangar near the control tower, just out of sight of the third jet, when the
volley of shots was accidentally fired.

The shots came from the 20mm Gatling guns with six cannons capable of firing
6,000 shots per minute which are the formidable fighting machine's standard
weapons.

That aircraft had just been refuelled and along with the other damaged jet, was
being prepared for a training mission when one jet was blasted with bullets.

Both technicians were said to have suffered from hearing problems as a result of
the accident and not burn injures, according to Sudinfo.

A rescue operation was launched and huge plumes of black smoke was seen coming
from the air base for miles around after the several explosions were heard.

Around 30 firefighters including civilian officers reportedly raced to the scene
along with ambulances and other emergency workers.

The exploded war plane, which is capable of travelling at supersonic speeds, was
said to have been filled with around 10,000 litres of highly explosive kerosene
fuel.

Colonel Didier Polome, who flew back from the Baltic where Belgian F-16s are
policing NATO's frontier with Russia, said: 'You can't help thinking of what a
disaster this could have been.'




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