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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 2270.PDF
MILITARY ACCIDENTS Buccaneer crew was distracted LONDON ~ Royal Air Force Buccaneer S.2B XX891, based at RAF Laarbruch in West Germany, was the leader of a pair of Buccaneers on August 11, 1983. Following take-off from Laarbruch, the lead pilot selected the undercarriage and flaps up, but the under carriage position indicator lights did not extinguish. He levelled the aircraft at 600ft, reduced power to keep the speed below the gear's limit speed, and informed his wing- man of the problem. He then reselected the flaps to takeoff configuration and the under carriage lights went off. Because of the malfunction the crew of XX891 decided to return to the airfield for a visual inspection and started a gentle turn to a wide down wind position. During the turn a short radio conversation took place between the leader and his wingman concerning the leader's intentions. The lead pilot had trouble hearing his wingman's transmission because the signals from the audio angle-of-attack facility in XX891 were masking the radio reception, so he turned down the volume of the audio warning and did not recall hearing the signals again. But, shortly after the radio conversation ceased, the lead navigator warned the pilot that their aircraft was in danger of stalling. The pilot pushed the control column forward, but the aircraft stalled. He realised that recovery from the stall was impossible within the height available and ejected, followed by the navigator. The pilot's parachute deployed just before he hit the ground and he sustained slight injuries, but by the time the navigator ejected the combination of the aircraft's attitude, height, and rate of descent had exceeded the ejec tion seat's limits and he was killed. The aircraft crashed in open countryside and was destroyed. The investigation concluded that the accident occurred because the aircraft stalled at a height which prevented safe recovery. The stall appeared to have been due to the aircraft's speed deteriorating while the crew was distracted by the emergency situation, the pilot being engaged in a radio conversation and the navigator probably consulting his emergency checklist. The circumstances of the accident have been widely publicised within the Service to warn of the dangers of distraction and the necessity to monitor all available infor mation. Blade failure caused Harrier crash LONDON A pair of Royal Air Force Harrier GR.3s was returning to RAF Stanley in the Falklands on November 6, 1982, after a routine training sortie. The pilot of XW767 was the leader. About 2 n.m. from the airfield the wingman saw a puff of smoke surround the tail of XW767 and at the same time the lead pilot felt a heavy high-frequency vibration, a marked loss of thrust, and saw his engine r.p.m. indication drop from 75 per cent to 64 per cent. Other indications were normal, but the engine did not respond when the pilot moved the throttle forward. He decided that the engine was producing insufficient thrust for a safe landing and, in a final attempt to restore thrust, he closed the engine down and carried out a manual relight. The engine would not accelerate beyond 40 per cent r.p.m. and the vibration persisted. The wing man then saw a large flame extend from XW767's star board cold (forward) nozzle to beyond its tail. The lead pilot ejected safely and the aircraft crashed into the sea, 350m from the shore. Examination of the engine revealed extensive pre-crash damage to the low pressure (LP) compressor. The failure of a second-stage rotor blade was believed to have caused this. The reason for the blade failure could not be deter mined because of the exten sive crash damage, but a previous failure of a similar blade in another Harrier engine had been caused by a fatigue crack which had originated from foreign object damage. It was concluded that the same may have happened in the case of XW767, but it was impossible to determine when or how this might have occurred. A review of preventative measures has since been undertaken. Buccaneer lost control inVMC LONDON Royal Air Force Buccaneer S.2B XZ430, based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, was leading a five-aircraft for mation on a maritime training sortie over the northern North Sea on May 20, 1984. Having received directions towards a simulated target, the lead crew specified that the attack would be of a "standard method". This includes a sustained pitch-up from low level and results in simulated weapon release with the aircraft in a moderate climbing attitude. At the appropriate position, the lead aircraft was seen to start a moderate climb before entering cloud. The other aircraft completed their attacks and regrouped, but the lead aircraft was not seen or heard from again. Search aircraft were dispatched and debris was sighted floating on the water surface. Both crew were killed. The extensive disinte gration of the wreckage and the depth at which it lay made recovery practically impos sible and search and salvage operations were called off on July 5, 1984, The investigation con cluded from the position of the wreckage that the aircraft had departed controlled flight at some point during the attack after it entered cloud. The cause of this loss of control remained a matter of speculation, but there were no indications to suggest that the aircraft was other than fully serviceable when it began the 12 attack. The fact that the crew had not attempted to eject militated against the possi bility of a major technical fail ure having occurred, but it was conceivable that an instrument malfunction at a critical point in the attack might have induced pilot disorientation. However, the aircraft had no history of instrument failures. In the absence of any specific evidence, the investi gation concluded that the most likely explanation was pilot disorientation leading to loss of control, with possible instrument failure as a con tributory factor. CASUALTIES • A Belgian Air Force General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon of 1 Wing, based at Beauvechain, crashed at Court St Etienne on April 29. The pilot was killed. #An Argentine Air Force Dassault Mirage III of the 10th Brigada Aerea, Rio Gallegos, crashed 15 n.m. south of its base on April 30. The pilot made a successful premeditated ejection after the gear lowered asymmetric ally. • Seventeen US Marines were killed when a USMC Sikorsky CH-53D Stallion of the 86th Marine Air Group crashed into the sea 15 n.m. off Yakushima, Japan, on May 6. The helicopter was en route from its base at Camp Butler, Okinawa, to Iwakuni AB, Honshu. • A Royal Australian Air Force Dassault Mirage IIIO of 25 Sqn crashed after engine failure on the approach to RAAF Darwin on May 28. The pilot, Fg Off Al Quaife, ejected safely. The aircraft landed intact in a mangrove swamp, and might be recov ered and repaired. • A Westland Sea King of the Royal Navy was involved in a mid-air collision with a Lock heed C-130 Hercules of the Royal Air Force off the Falkland Islands on June 27. All four crew in the Sea King were killed. They were Lt Duncan Hayes, Lt Simon- Rodwell, Lt Cdr Robert Charles Simpson, and Lead ing Aircrewman Paul Summers. There were no casualties on board the Hercules, which returned to Port Stanley. FLIGHT International, 20 July 1985
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