US Govt to pay $17.8M for F/A-18D crash near KNKX

[C-182 flyer]

There is a lot of speculation on here about this, and as AMG said, much of it is not true of the mishap or the Hornet systems. You can fly around all day single engine in the Hornet, it is not that much of a a big deal. There were other things going that happened that turned what should have been an easy divert into something major.

 

[MercFE]

I was actually out at NZY on the incident day. We had landed there just before the F/A-18 came back inland. Listened as much as we could to the ATC side of things as he headed back and passed NZY to press on.

I for one would really like to have an idea of the conversations happening on the base freq. At the time, we were curious if having the rare E-6B heavy tying up all the taxiways/runways led to the NZY controllers to ask for the 18 to press on. Seems like anytime we land there, it quickly becomes a task saturated kind of time for the base. Knowing the emergency would/should take priority, it still leaves a little question in the back of your head...

Agree with ///AMG, some of the recaps here are true, some not so true. Best part of word of mouth, eh?

Glad to hear the gov't is trying to do right by the father. Even better to hear that the pilot is still able to allow the Navy to sling his rear off the pointy end.

 

[bunk22]

I too never understood as to why he was diverted to NKX vice NZY. Made no sense except for all the bad reasons I can think of...maint doesn't want to drive down there, it's a hassle, etc. I'm glad to hear he is doing well though. That had to be tough especially with the court of public opinion voicing completely ignorant statements.

 

[RDoug]

Oh, boy, does this bring back memories—October 26, 1978: A-7D crash in Tucson

I was working ground control when it happened. Not a good day for any of us.

 

[///AMG]

I agree with the rest that the decision to push the guy to NKX made no sense from a Monday morning standpoint knowing all the facts and having full SA of the situation, but having sat at that very duty desk many a time, I can also see how some things may not have been as readily apparent. His original emergency was not really serious in nature, as C-182 alluded to. I seriously doubt that anyone involved seriously considered that his jet would be a smoking hole in UTC before it was all said and done. That's about as specific as I can get without getting into details that shouldn't be talked about here.

 

[MikeD]

Oh, boy, does this bring back memories—October 26, 1978: A-7D crash in Tucson

I was working ground control when it happened. Not a good day for any of us.

There's a small memorial down on 6th Ave by the University for this accident and the two deaths.

 

[bunk22]

I was in Pensacola in 96 when a Viper had a compressor stall and crashed into a residential neighborhood. A young boy died in that one. I drove by the crash site a few days later and was surprised at the limited damage done except to one house.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/11/f16.crash/

Crashed about 15:30 hours into a house in Pensacola, Florida, following an engine failure 20 miles north of Pensacola while on route from Shaw AFB to Eglin AFB to avoid hurricane Bertha. The pilot was forced to eject two miles short of the runway. A child in the house was killed. A man and woman in the house suffered burns. The pilot ejected safely. The accident investigation showed foreign object damage to a fan blade caused a crack seven thousands of an inch (too small to visually spot). The blade was ingested into the engine. The engine had failed three times during the flight with two relighting's. With the third engine failure the pilot ditched the aircraft into what he hoped was an unpopulated area, and ejected at only 200 feet.