F-16 Down

NTSB Report:
The spin was induced by the disruption of air flow into the starboard only engine. This disruption stalled the engine. Which produced enough yaw rate black magic to induce a spin, which was unrecoverable. There was no way Lieutenant Mitchell could see or avoid the jetwash.


The Board of Inquiry finds that he was not at fault in the accident of July August. His record will be cleared. He's restored to flight status without further delay. These proceedings are closed.

*Que Dramatic Music*

Glad they're both OK though!
 
By far, not the first midair in tactical aviation training sorties, and won't be the last. Much like fratricide.
 
MikeD said:
By far, not the first midair in tactical aviation training sorties, and won't be the last. Much like fratricide.
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I'd go as far as to say this is the most likely way to die in tacair......or at least in the top 2-3.

We were nearby at the time and ended up launching some R/W SAR assets. They tried to shut down flight ops for the day, but I guess we were far enough away that we could stay out of the problem.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Mid-air.
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Just so we can get a media type spin on this:

CNN: Spokesmen for the military, "Pilot Fighter", informed us here at CNN, that the F-16 collided with, "Air" in the mid-levels! Apparently, this was some type of, "training", but no one at Union Pacific has returned our repeated calls for an interview.
 
///AMG said:
I'd go as far as to say this is the most likely way to die in tacair......or at least in the top 2-3.
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I would venture to say that it has now passed CFIT in terms of target fixation as one of the ways to die in tacair. Ever since the proliferation of LGBs and especially GPS guided weapons; guys pointing their noses at the ground severely to deliver a dumb bomb (in the A-10, up to 60 degrees medium altitude, and 20 degrees low altitude), has become more and more rare. And medium altitude ops has largely replaced low altitude work as a primary delivery method, especially since the need to get "under the WX" to deliver your dumb bomb or your LGB-dropped-dumb via a pop and acquire maneuver, has been largely replaced by dropping the same munition with GPS, so long as the target is static. Move over Mk82...and even GBU-12, GBU-38 is the owner of the 500 pounder neighborhood now. Kind of sad actually.
 
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///AMG said:
I'd go as far as to say this is the most likely way to die in tacair......or at least in the top 2-3.
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Now I want to see some stats. I'll take a shot to stir debate. I would think that CFIT is number one. Second, take-off and landing accidents (usually with ejection), both mechanical and pilot error.

Third? I can't decide between mid-air and out-of-control with crash or out of envelope ejection.
 
MikeD said:
I would venture to say that it has now passed CFIT in terms of target fixation as one of the ways to die in tacair. Ever since the proliferation of LGBs and especially GPS guided weapons; guys pointing their noses at the ground severely to deliver a dumb bomb (in the A-10, up to 60 degrees medium altitude, and 20 degrees low altitude), has become more and more rare. And medium altitude ops has largely replaced low altitude work as a primary delivery method, especially since the need to get "under the WX" to deliver your dumb bomb or your LGB-dropped-dumb via a pop and acquire maneuver, has been largely replaced by dropping the same munition with GPS, so long as the target is static. Move over Mk82...and even GBU-12, GBU-38 is the owner of the 500 pounder neighborhood now. Kind of sad actually.
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Yeah there is a lot of truth to that. That said, we still throw our faces 30 degrees down into the mountains at night blinded by our own bullets on the regular, so there is some high risk CFIT potential left. I know someone who had a low pull doing that which nearly tied the low altitude record. Of course I also know of a guy who bounced a Hornet off the ground just being head down too long at 500'......when he trapped (at a field that will remain nameless to protect the innocent) the compressor section of an entire engine flew out the intake, and he had enough wood jammed into the wings and stabs to start a bonfire. Lucky lucky man!
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Now I want to see some stats. I'll take a shot to stir debate. I would think that CFIT is number one. Second, take-off and landing accidents (usually with ejection), both mechanical and pilot error.

Third? I can't decide between mid-air and out-of-control with crash or out of envelope ejection.
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I'd agree in terms of accidents in general, but in terms of accidents resulting in a fatality, most of them in VFA in recent history have been the result of midairs.
 
///AMG said:
. Of course I also know of a guy who bounced a Hornet off the ground just being head down too long at 500'......when he trapped (at a field that will remain nameless to protect the innocent) the compressor section of an entire engine flew out the intake, and he had enough wood jammed into the wings and stabs to start a bonfire. Lucky lucky man!
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As it's said, the ground has a 99% Pk, not 100%. :)
 
///AMG said:
I'd agree in terms of accidents in general, but in terms of accidents resulting in a fatality, most of them in VFA in recent history have been the result of midairs.
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I can't recall any mid-air TacAir fatalities in the last two or three years. Maybe I've missed one.

Edit: Going back five years, two in 2008 and one in 2009, if my Interwebs are correct.
 
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///AMG said:
You must not be a light grey Eagle guy......if you were, your decimal place would be two digits left, and there would be a "so to speak" in there somewhere :)
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....and they'd be pointing with their elbows, while talking about craniums and containers, as opposed to heads and boxes that we lowly VA guys refer to.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
I can't recall any mid-air TacAir fatalities in the last two or three years. Maybe I've missed one.

Edit: Going back five years, two in 2008 and one in 2009, if my Interwebs are correct.
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No that is about accurate. Not including the VAQ-129 crash this spring, those are about the most recent tacair fatalities I can think of. Maybe I am forgetting something though.....and of course this doesn't include USAF mishaps, as there have been a few (F-22 and others).
 
MikeD said:
....and they'd be pointing with their elbows, while talking about craniums and containers, as opposed to heads and boxes that we lowly VA guys refer to.
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But they just look so much better coming into the overcranial at 2000 ft and 300 kts :)
 
Have you guys read "The Magical Stranger"? A son who lost his father in a 1980 Prowler crash attempts to get to know a father he did not know well.
 
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