Elwyn R's video: F-16 from USAF Viper Emergency Landing at RIAT 2019

F-16 from USAF Viper Demonstration Team does Emergency Landing at RIAT 2019 after Experiencing Issue with right Horizontal Stabilizer. Following the damage, Maj. Garret “Toro” Schmitz spoke to the tower and stated that he thought his arrestor hook had ‘inadvertently’ lowered but, as the video in this post shows, the hook is still stowed. The first display aircraft of the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) on Sunday Jul. 21, 2019 program was the USAF F-16 Viper Demonstration Team display which was short lived as only a few minutes into the display an emergency was called, the display ceased and Maj. Garret “Toro” Schmitz climbed higher to circle while assessing the issue. Following the damage, Schmitz spoke to the tower and stated that he thought his arrestor hook had ‘inadvertently’ lowered but, as you can see from the footage, it is definitely still there and stowed (maybe the damage triggered a sensor to indicate that the hook is lowered). The pilot then did an emergency landing with flight control issues. The mishap could have been caused by delamination of the right horizontal stabilizer caused by pulling too many G’s.