Captain Luke A. Johnson, 26 years of age, a 23rd Fighter Squadron pilot died Wednesday night when his F-16CJ crashed two miles northeast of Spangdahlem Air Base on March 20, 2002. The air base's control tower lost radio and radar contact with Capt. Johnson, at 9:10 p.m. as he prepared to land. Johnson was flying with three other aircraft from his squadron, known as the Fighting Hawks, for a night training mission. All took off from the base at 7:55 p.m. Johnson was the last of the four fighters scheduled to land.

Johnson's F-16 crashed in a flat, wooded area about 500 yards from a logging road near Landscheid. No one on the ground was injured and no property was damaged. After contact with the plane was lost, Air Force officials immediately notified German police, who patrolled the last known location of the plane until they found the area of impact at 23.40h. No one had seen the plane crash and no fire was visible after the accident. At the time of the accident, winds were out of the southwest at 6 knots and visibility was 8,000 meters, about five miles, with light rain and fog - considered favorable flying conditions. The accident investigation told it was a pilot error.

Source of information: www.f-16.net, www.stripes.com