Hill fighter drops fuel tanks into Great Salt Lake

An F-16 fighter pilot jettisoned two external fuel tanks into the Great Salt Lake Friday about three miles into Antelope Island State Park and a half mile from the causeway leading to the island.

The impact location is a muddy lake bed, and the tanks, which were destroyed on impact, left more than 400 gallons of jet fuel on the ground.

Authorities are working on a cleanup plan.

The jet, belonging to the base's 388th Fighter Wing, was conducting local training when the accident happened shortly after takeoff, about 10:15 a.m. The plane's sensors indicated a fire condition, according to a base news release.

The pilot followed emergency procedures and jettisoned the tanks to lighten the plane over an unpopulated area to facilitate a safe landing. Using fuel from an internal fuel tank, the aircraft landed safely about 10:20 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Response efforts were under way to retrieve the tanks Friday, and base emergency response and environmental teams coordinated with local emergency authorities on the recovery and cleanup.

"We are currently working with Davis County officials to determine the extent of any fuel that might be remaining at the location, whether any hazards exist and the appropriate cleanup efforts," said Col. Linda Medler, 75th Air Base Wing commander. "We plan to have the site cleaned up in the next day or two."

The Davis County Health Department is responsible to oversee the base's cleanup, which may be hampered by impending snowstorms. Snow is expected to fall through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

But the cold weather could help by solidifying the mud, said Dave Spence, the health department's bureau manager for environmental response.

Spence said his primary concerns when he learned of the incident revolved around the location of the tanks.

If they had ruptured in the water, lake currents could have caused the

fuel to migrate around the lake. But because of the muddy location, fuel was contained in the area where the tanks landed, he said.

Currently, the lake elevation is 4,193 feet, just 2 feet above its 1963 record low of 4,191 feet. In a higher water year, the impact site would have been covered in water.

Lynn de Freitas, executive director of Friends of Great Salt Lake, said she hopes the base's environmental team will analyze how jet fuel interacts with the biologic makeup of the lake bed.

The 18-foot long fuel tanks are just over 2 feet in diameter and have an empty weight of 443 pounds. Each tank is capable of carrying 370 gallons of fuel, and as the incident happened shortly after takeoff, both tanks were approximately two-thirds full.

Personnel from the 388th Fighter Wing will conduct a safety investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com