Thunderbirds crash cause revealed

ATTRITION REPORT ATHROTTLE TRIGGER malfunction and inadvertent throttle rotation have been found to be the cause of the crash of a USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, F-16CM south of Peterson AFB, Colorado, on June 2, 2016. The findings were released in an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) report published on December 14, and the document confirmed the aircraft involved was 92-3890. The mishap occurred after a flyby of the USAF Academy graduation in Colorado Springs. (See Attrition, July 2016, p93.)