Engine vane problem caused Thunderbirds F-16 crash, investigation finds

A US Air Force accident investigation has attributed the loss of a Thunderbirds F-16 to misaligned compressor vanes in its engine, which set off a series of internal failures and left the jet without enough thrust to stay in the air.

The aircraft, an F-16CM flown by the Air Demonstration Squadron, went down on Dec. 3, 2025, in a lakebed area near Trona, California. The pilot ejected and escaped with minor injuries. The jet was destroyed.

The report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board was finished on Sept. 1, 2026, and made public on Sept. 21. It identified the turned vanes in the engine's compressor as the origin of the damage. The fighter was fitted with a Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofan.

According to the findings, the vanes sit in the fourth and fifth stages of the compressor. Investigators could not establish with certainty why the vanes shifted. They did note that the affected stages cannot be examined while the engine remains installed, a limitation the board said played a significant part in the sequence of events.

The flight was a training sortie. About four minutes and 21 seconds after the pilot first lost thrust, and with the aircraft low and slowing, the pilot ejected. The F-16 came down roughly 18 nautical miles east-northeast of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.