A Cessna 150 operating under VFR rules and a U.S. Air Force F-16 operating under IFR rules near Charleston, S.C., were technically legal before the two were involved in a midair on July 7, according to a preliminary report issued last week by the NTSB. The two people aboard the Cessna 150, one of whom was a certified flight instructor, were killed in the collision. That aircraft was destroyed. The F-16 continued flying for a few minutes after the collision until the pilot ejected and landed safely.
The F-16 was conducting practice instrument approaches to nearby Charleston AFB at the time of the collision and the Cessna was flying southeasterly having departed nearby Berkley County airport (MKS) at approximately 10:58 a.m. The Cessna was flying with an operative transponder set to 1200 but did not contact Charleston Approach for advisories, nor was he required to do so. As the F-16 was headed southwesterly to intercept the final approach for Runway 15 at Charleston, the approach controller pointed out the 150’s transponder target to the Air Force pilot, who reported he was looking. As the two approached closer—and within 100 feet vertically—the Charleston Approach controller attempted to turn the F-16 away from the Cessna 150. The turn for the F-16 pilot came too late to prevent the collision.