Shaw pilot still missing

Airman was performing training maneuvers over Atlantic

CAPT. NICHOLAS GIGLIO

Coast Guard: 'We're out there to save a life'

By ANNABELLE ROBERTSON
Item Staff Writer
arobertson@theitem.com

A Shaw Air Force Base fighter pilot training for a deployment to Southwest Asia clipped his wingman and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 40 miles off Folly Beach on Thursday night, officials say.

He was still missing at press time Friday night.

Capt. Nicholas “Nick” Giglio of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw was at the controls of his F-16 doing routine night training maneuvers when he struck the other F-16 in his two-ship formation.

The collision took place about 19,000 feet above sea level about 8:30 p.m.

Capt. Lee Bryant's F-16 sustained “severe damage,” said Col. Joseph Guastella, commander of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw, but Bryant was able to make an emergency landing at Charleston Air Force Base and was unharmed. He is, however, “very shook up,” Guastella said.

Officials said Giglio might still be alive.

“There is debris in the water that is suspected to be from the mishap aircraft,” Guastella said. “They think they have seen parts of the airplane, to include an oil slick. But the focus is on the pilot.”

There is no sign of the plane's emergency tracking beacon, he said, which is located in the F-16's ejection seat.

“The lack of a beacon might indicate that the pilot didn't safely eject or that there was an equipment malfunction,” said Capt. Michael McAllister, commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston. “It makes it more difficult for us since we don't have the beacon to hone in on.”

Lt. Col. Lance Kildron, commander of the 77th Fighter Squadron, had already met with members of the squadron and their families and was planning to meet with them again. Everyone was taking the news “pretty hard,” he said.

The squadron is scheduled to deploy to Southwest Asia in early 2010.

The Coast Guard is leading the search for Giglio, with support from the Air Force, Navy, law enforcement and commercial shippers.

Initial efforts focused on a 725-square-mile area about 40 miles off Folly Beach. The search was widened to a 1,000-square-mile rectangle of about 25 miles by 40 miles in an area 30 miles northeast of Charleston, and was expanded again to 1,300 square miles in the mid-afternoon.

According to Guastella, the two F-16s were on a scheduled 1.3-hour mission when the collision occurred. Bryant did not see what happened, Guastella said, because he was focused on landing his own aircraft.

Two additional F-16s from the 77th were flying nearby in the same air space. Those pilots did not witness the collision, nor were they able to see what happened to Giglio or his plane. When those pilots learned of the collision, they quickly helped Bryant assess damage to his plane and get back to Charleston and also looked for Giglio, Guastella said.

Kildron said Giglio flew the same training flight several nights before the Thursday accident.
Guastella said the collision took place toward the end of the 80-minute mission, which is conducted two to five times a week by Shaw-based pilots.

Earlier this week, Shaw officials announced that pilots would conduct nighttime exercises to allow pilots to fly with night vision equipment and practice tactics critical to surviving in combat.

The water temperature is believed to be 75 degrees in the location where the plane went down, visibility was good and winds were about 25 mph, said McAllister. He added that he did not think it was raining at the time.

Guastella said Giglio was wearing a regulation Air Force flight suit.

“If he landed in the water in good health, then he has up to 36 hours of life expectancy,” he explained. “That's the average for a healthy male, under these conditions. But there are a lot of ifs. We have no idea about his condition when he entered the water, whether he was in the airplane, in the seat, or in a parachute. We can only hope that he ejected and that he survived the ejection.”

This is not the first time that an F-16 from Shaw has disappeared off the coast of South Carolina.

Photo provided An F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Capt. Ted Shultz, a pilot with the 55th Fighter Squadron, crashed into the Atlantic on April 5, 2006.

His F-16 went down about 30 miles offshore, between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, about 5:40 p.m. that day.

Shultz was rescued two hours later by a Coast Guard swimmer. He suffered two broken legs and a broken wrist.

Weather conditions were considered “ideal” during that search.

The 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office said in 2006 that pilots usually practice air-to-air tactics over the ocean because they can fly at supersonic speeds and do not put any civilians at risk.

Also, he said, air-to-ground tactics are usually practiced within the training airspace between Sumter and Georgetown County, as well as in airspace over rural Georgia.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the F-16 is a single-seat aircraft typically used in air-to-air missions and for air coverage of military ground troops. It can fly as fast as 1,500 mph and as high as 50,000 feet.

Guastella said Friday that hopes remain high for Giglio's rescue.

“We are still operating off the fact that he could be down there (even if) the beacon isn't on,” he said. “That's why we're going to continue our search.”

As a sign of respect for their fellow airman, the 77th Fighter Squadron “stood down” on Friday, remaining on the ground with the squadron and the other F-16s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.