thedrifter
07-24-04, 08:20 AM
Issue Date: July 26, 2004
Dogfight gone wrong
Pilot at fault in crash that destroyed 2 Hornets, report says
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer
The Marine Corps has determined that one of the pilots involved in a crash of two F/A-18A+ Hornets off the coast of South Carolina did not properly execute a standard maneuver during dogfight practice last fall, causing a catastrophic collision.
According to the Judge Advocate General Manual investigation report on the Oct. 15 accident, the pilot, identified in the report only by the jet’s call sign, “Blade 23,” was practicing a maneuver with another Hornet, call sign “Blade 24,” when he noticed moments into the dogfight that he was headed for a collision.
The left wings of the two Hornets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 collided, causing fires aboard both and forcing the pilots to eject over the Atlantic Ocean about 50 miles off the coast of Hilton Head, S.C.
Both pilots were rescued unharmed after the accident and flown to Beaufort Naval Hospital, S.C., and later released. The two aircraft — each worth about $50 million — were destroyed.
According to the report, a copy of which was obtained July 14 through the Freedom of Information Act, Blade 23 “misinterpreted the diverging flight path situation and mistakenly decided to abort the briefed maneuver by going low and inside of this wingman’s flight path.”
“Maneuvering from a predictable, nose high, vertical separating flight path to an unpredictable, nose low trend [and] breaking flight path without proper communication was in violation of several [air combat maneuvering] training rules,” the report said.
The names of the pilots involved in the mishap, Capt. Matthew McInerney, 29, and Maj. Breton Saunders, 37, were omitted from the report, leaving unclear who was flying each plane.
But the report states that Blade 23 was a student and that Blade 24 was evaluating him on his preparation and execution of the sortie.
The commander of Marine Aircraft Group 31 determined that Blade 23 was “responsible for the mishap” but that he was “merely reacting to avoid a perceived collision trend in the only manner he thought possible.”
“His actions were neither premeditated nor due to lack of planning,” Col. David Peeler, then MAG-31 commander, wrote in a May 7 statement.
Investigators also held Blade 24 accountable, though he was not deemed at fault.
With Blade 24 acting as the dogfight instructor, the senior pilot “was partially responsible for the mishap by not maintaining a ‘way out’ and by not ensuring flight safety during all maneuvering,” the report stated. “However, poor decisions by students can rapidly make situations unrecoverable.”
The report leaves unclear what actions were taken to address the causes of the accident and did not specifically state whether either of the pilots had been disciplined.
Anatomy of a collision
The flight began on a clear morning with a pre-mission brief that lasted more than an hour. The student pilot received a good evaluation from the instructor, Blade 24, on the conduct of the brief and the two walked to their aircraft.
After taking off around 8 a.m., they practiced a series of missile defense maneuvers, then joined to start the next portion of the flight.
The two Hornets began by flying side-by-side, separated by less than a half mile, at 15,000 feet. Blade 23 counted down: “3, 2, 1 — fight’s on” and accelerated into a climb with Blade 24 following.
Within seconds, things began to look bad.
“I became concerned approximately 2-3 seconds after the fight was initiated that the flight had a rapidly building deconfliction problem,” the Blade 23 pilot said in a written statement included in the report. His aircraft was supposed to be higher than Blade 24, but it appeared that the two did not have enough distance between them as they crossed paths and that a collision was imminent.
The pilot in Blade 24 saw that something was wrong and quickly called off the fight. But it was too late.
Blade 23 pulled hard on the stick, banking to get away from Blade 24. Even as Blade 24 tried to pull away, Blade 23 struck the left side of the other plane.
“Immediately following impact, my aircraft pitched forward, flames engulfing the cockpit as I reached for the ejection handle,” Blade 24 wrote.
Both pilots ejected from their critically damaged planes and were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-3090443.php
Ellie
Dogfight gone wrong
Pilot at fault in crash that destroyed 2 Hornets, report says
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer
The Marine Corps has determined that one of the pilots involved in a crash of two F/A-18A+ Hornets off the coast of South Carolina did not properly execute a standard maneuver during dogfight practice last fall, causing a catastrophic collision.
According to the Judge Advocate General Manual investigation report on the Oct. 15 accident, the pilot, identified in the report only by the jet’s call sign, “Blade 23,” was practicing a maneuver with another Hornet, call sign “Blade 24,” when he noticed moments into the dogfight that he was headed for a collision.
The left wings of the two Hornets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 collided, causing fires aboard both and forcing the pilots to eject over the Atlantic Ocean about 50 miles off the coast of Hilton Head, S.C.
Both pilots were rescued unharmed after the accident and flown to Beaufort Naval Hospital, S.C., and later released. The two aircraft — each worth about $50 million — were destroyed.
According to the report, a copy of which was obtained July 14 through the Freedom of Information Act, Blade 23 “misinterpreted the diverging flight path situation and mistakenly decided to abort the briefed maneuver by going low and inside of this wingman’s flight path.”
“Maneuvering from a predictable, nose high, vertical separating flight path to an unpredictable, nose low trend [and] breaking flight path without proper communication was in violation of several [air combat maneuvering] training rules,” the report said.
The names of the pilots involved in the mishap, Capt. Matthew McInerney, 29, and Maj. Breton Saunders, 37, were omitted from the report, leaving unclear who was flying each plane.
But the report states that Blade 23 was a student and that Blade 24 was evaluating him on his preparation and execution of the sortie.
The commander of Marine Aircraft Group 31 determined that Blade 23 was “responsible for the mishap” but that he was “merely reacting to avoid a perceived collision trend in the only manner he thought possible.”
“His actions were neither premeditated nor due to lack of planning,” Col. David Peeler, then MAG-31 commander, wrote in a May 7 statement.
Investigators also held Blade 24 accountable, though he was not deemed at fault.
With Blade 24 acting as the dogfight instructor, the senior pilot “was partially responsible for the mishap by not maintaining a ‘way out’ and by not ensuring flight safety during all maneuvering,” the report stated. “However, poor decisions by students can rapidly make situations unrecoverable.”
The report leaves unclear what actions were taken to address the causes of the accident and did not specifically state whether either of the pilots had been disciplined.
Anatomy of a collision
The flight began on a clear morning with a pre-mission brief that lasted more than an hour. The student pilot received a good evaluation from the instructor, Blade 24, on the conduct of the brief and the two walked to their aircraft.
After taking off around 8 a.m., they practiced a series of missile defense maneuvers, then joined to start the next portion of the flight.
The two Hornets began by flying side-by-side, separated by less than a half mile, at 15,000 feet. Blade 23 counted down: “3, 2, 1 — fight’s on” and accelerated into a climb with Blade 24 following.
Within seconds, things began to look bad.
“I became concerned approximately 2-3 seconds after the fight was initiated that the flight had a rapidly building deconfliction problem,” the Blade 23 pilot said in a written statement included in the report. His aircraft was supposed to be higher than Blade 24, but it appeared that the two did not have enough distance between them as they crossed paths and that a collision was imminent.
The pilot in Blade 24 saw that something was wrong and quickly called off the fight. But it was too late.
Blade 23 pulled hard on the stick, banking to get away from Blade 24. Even as Blade 24 tried to pull away, Blade 23 struck the left side of the other plane.
“Immediately following impact, my aircraft pitched forward, flames engulfing the cockpit as I reached for the ejection handle,” Blade 24 wrote.
Both pilots ejected from their critically damaged planes and were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-3090443.php
Ellie