One of the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) new light-attack aircraft crashed on 23 October during a training mission in the US state of Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma National Guard confirmed the crash of an L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II turboprop southeast of Oklahoma City.
Neither of the two crewmen aboard the two-seat aircraft were injured, according to the national guard. The turboprop was being operated by the USAF’s active duty 492nd Special Operations Wing from nearby Will Rodgers Air National Guard Base.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause.
In May, L3Harris told FlightGlobal the OA-1K’s design features include reinforced landing gear and a cockpit strengthened to withstand high-g impacts, which may have helped prevent injury to the crew involved in the 23 October crash.
Unverified images circulating on social media show what is purported to be the crashed OA-1K. The aircraft is shown belly down in a field beside damaged electricity poles. Grass beneath the power lines is black and smoking.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department confirms fire crews responded to an aircraft emergency at 14:42 local time on 23 October.
”Two people onboard walked away safely after the plane hit two power poles and sparked a small grass fire,” the fire department says.
At least one of the aircraft’s propeller blades is significantly bent, and its left wing appears damaged. Deformations are visible on the left-side of the aircraft’s nose.
Video posted to various social media sites – also unverified, and apparently taken from an automobile dashboard camera – appears to show an OA-1K swooping low across a crowded motor highway, narrowly avoiding vehicles. The aircraft’s propeller is spinning in the footage.
The OA-1K is among the newest additions to the USAF inventory, with the service only having taken delivery of the first example earlier this year.
Built by L3Harris using modified Air Tractor AT-802 crop dusters, OA-1Ks were commissioned by the US Special Operations Command to provide light attack and aerial reconnaissance support to American commando units.
The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) plans to eventually field 75 OA-1Ks, with deliveries expected to conclude in 2029.
In May, AFSOC commander Lieutenant General Michael Conley told FlightGlobal the service’s current priority for the OA-1K is to train the first generation of pilots in basic airmanship competencies.
“My priority with OA-1K is to develop competent air crews, not get distracted by all the things that it could do or should do or might do,” Conley said.
“Once we field operational crews in the next few years, I think we will find ways to employ it,” he added. “Maybe ways we’re not even thinking about yet.”
The turboprop is notably the first tailwheel aircraft in the USAF inventory in roughly five decades, a feature which AFSOC officials have previously told FlightGlobal would require new learnings on the part aircrews.
“This distinguishable feature required test evaluators to devise a new methodology to verify its performance,” the USAF said in July.
The service at the time said that developmental testing with the OA-1K was underway at Eglin AFB in Florida with AFSOC and the service’s 96th Test Wing.
