May B-1 crash: Pilots forgot to lower landing gear
A B-1B Lancer crash landed at Diego Garcia on May 8 because the bomber’s two pilots forgot to lower the landing gear, an Air Force accident investigation board concluded.
The report, issued Sept. 18, faulted, pilot Maj. Jonathan D. Reid and co-pilot 1st Lt. Jeffrey J. Flowers, both members of the 7th Bomb Wing, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
“The cause of this mishap, supported by clear and convincing evidence, was both pilots’ failure to lower the landing gear during the aircraft’s approach and landing,” board president Lt. Col. Thomas R. Olsen, wrote in his opinion.
To two pilots were at the end of an 11-hour ferry flight that took the B-1B from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. Once at Diego, the plane would have likely flown combat missions over Afghanistan.
The investigators found that even though Reid called “gear down” as the jet approached the runway neither Reid nor Flowers had lowered the wheels or completed the landing checklist.
While the B-1B was in holding pattern over Diego, the crew turned off the plane’s audio alarm that would have automatically warned the crew that the gear should been lowered, the report said.
Even with the audio warning turned off, warning lights in the cockpit showed the landing gear was still up as the plane began its final approach, the report said.
Upon hitting the runway, the jet skidded for 7,600 feet until grinding to stop. The pilots and defensive and offensive systems officers scrambled out the jet.
The only lasting injury was to Flowers, who is being treated for back pain, the report said.
The Air Force estimated the jet suffered $7.9 million in damages. Runway way repairs were placed at cost $14,025.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2113123.php
The thing's an ice skate when its on its belly!
