Green Ramp disaster The Green Ramp disaster was a 1994 mid - air collision and subsequent ground collision at Pope Air Force Base ( Pope AFB ) , North Carolina that killed twenty - four members of the U . S . Army ' s 82nd Airborne Division preparing for an airborne operation . It was the worst peacetime loss of life suffered by the Division since the end of World War II . Crash . The " Green Ramp " is the large north - south parking ramp at the west end of Pope AFB ' s east - west runway , used by the U . S . Army and Air Force to stage joint operations . Several buildings sit along its western edge , including Building 900 , the building housing the Air Force operations group . A pax shed ( a large open - bay building ) sat next to Building 900 , which the Army used to prepare troops for parachute drops . A large grassy area , where troops could stage before drops , lay between the two buildings . Behind the area , several concrete mock - ups of the backs of Air Force cargo aircraft had been constructed , where troops could rehearse their drop procedures . On the day of the accident , about 500 paratrooper s from Fort Bragg were in the pax shed , the concrete mock - ups or resting in the grassy area . While the jumpers prepared to board several C - 130s and C - 141 aircraft parked on Green Ramp , the sky was filled with Air Force F - 16 , A - 10 and C - 130 aircraft conducting Air Force training . Mid - air collision . Shortly after 14 : 00 hours on March 23 , 1994 , a twin - seat F - 16 D ( AF Ser . No . 88 - 0171 , c / n 1D - 25 , of the 74th Fighter Squadron , 23rd Operations Group ) with two pilots on board was conducting a simulated flameout ( SFO ) approach when it collided with a USAF Lockheed C - 130E Hercules , ( AF Ser . No . 68 - 10942 , c / n 4322 , of the 2nd Airlift Squadron , 317th Group ) . Both aircraft were members of the 23rd Wing , which was a tenant wing at Pope Air Force Base at the time . The aircraft were on short final approach to runway 23 at an altitude of about 300 feet . The nose of the F - 16 severed the C - 130 ' s right elevator . On impact , the F - 16 pilot applied full afterburner to try to recover the aircraft , but the aircraft began to disintegrate , showering debris on the runway and a road which ran around it . Both F - 16 crewmembers ejected , but their aircraft , still on full afterburner , continued on an arc towards Green Ramp . At the same time , the C - 130 crew took their aircraft away from the airfield and checked to ensure it could safely land . While the C - 130 crew knew they were most likely struck by the F - 16 , they had no idea how it happened or the extent of the damage . After performing their checks , the crew returned to Pope and landed on the debris - littered runway . Ground collision . By the time the C - 130 landed , the F - 16 had hit Green Ramp heading west . The aircraft struck the ground in an empty parking place between two Air Force C - 130s with crews on board preparing the aircraft for departure . When the F - 16 hit the ground , its momentum carried the wreckage westward through the right wing of a C - 141 ( AF Ser . No . 66 - 0173 of the 438th Airlift Wing , McGuire Air Force Base , New Jersey ) parked on the ramp . The C - 141 crew was also preparing the aircraft for joint Army - Air Force operations , however , no Army troops besides the jumpmaster team had yet boarded the plane . The wreckage of the F - 16 punctured the fuel tanks in the C - 141 ' s right wing , causing a large fireball which combined with the F - 16 wreckage and continued on a path taking it between Building 900 and the Pax Shed , directly into the area where the mass of Army paratroopers were sitting and standing . Twenty - three men died and over 80 were injured ; one severely burned paratrooper died later on 3 January 1995 . Paratroopers at the scene pulled troopers from the flames and the exploding 20mm F - 16 ammunition . Military and civilian vehicles were commandeered to ferry the injured to Womack Army Medical Center before first responder vehicles arrived . Also , vehicles and medics from the Army " Delta Force " which is adjacent to Green ramp , arrived early and provided assistance . Aftermath . Several of the more severely burned victims were taken to the U . S . Army Institute of Surgical Research at Brooke Army Medical Center , Texas . Two months after the accident , only one paratrooper remained critical , while the others were either in satisfactory condition or convalescing at home . A subsequent U . S . Air Force investigation placed most of the blame for the accident on the military and civilian air traffic controllers working Pope air traffic that day . A later investigation , however , stated that pilot error by the F - 16 pilots also contributed to the mishap . The ramifications of the Air Force decision , since abandoned , of operating dissimilar aircraft ( in this case C - 130s and F - 16s ) at the same air base were not examined by the two accident investigation boards .