Harrier crashes in Afghanistan pilot injured on ejection [Archive]

skippedonce

14th May 2009, 12:50

KABUL, May 14 (Reuters) - A British Harrier fighter jet crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, injuring the pilot, NATO said.
The alliance said in a statement that the aircraft had made an emergency landing at Kandahar Airfield in the south of the country. The pilot ejected and was believed to have suffered only minor injuries. There were no other casualties.
"The exact cause of the incident is not yet known, however there is currently no suggestion that the incident was caused by enemy action," the alliance said in a statement.
Earlier a spokesman blamed mechanical failure for the crash, which he said had taken place shortly after takeoff.
Britain's Royal Air Force has had BAE Harrier GR7 aircraft deployed in Afghanistan since 2006, adding more advanced Harrier GR9s in early 2007.
(Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Paul Tait)

muttywhitedog

14th May 2009, 15:31

The pilot is definately ok.

I'm a bit surprised a "spokesman" has made any statement other than "A Board of Inquiry will be convened to determine the cause of this incident".

Pontius Navigator

14th May 2009, 16:42

The pilot is definately ok.

I'm a bit surprised a "spokesman" has made any statement other than "A Board of Inquiry will be convened to determine the cause of this incident".

Maybe the Alliance spokesperson didn't do the MOD UK course in information disemination.

PS

I did note the BBC quoted an MOD spokesperson. Also I noticed a link on the BBC page - Is Afghanistan a worthy battle? curiously this forum is shown as unavailable.

BBC NEWS | Have Your Say | (http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4920&edition=1)

Mach the Knife

14th May 2009, 19:16

Sadly the MOD spokes"man" said quite a lot that was inappropriate, unconfirmed and in fact quite inaccurate. Really wish people would learn to shut the xxxx up until accurate information could be released by staff who actually know what has happened.

althenick

15th May 2009, 02:54

Quite frankly I dont give a fig about what the MoD Spokesperson did or didn't say. The Jockey's ok and that's good enough news for me :ok:

Mach the Knife

15th May 2009, 06:07

Athenick, you are quite right that the good news is the pilot was OK. However at the time the spokesman made the statement this was actually not known for certain, all that was known was that there had been an ejection.

Navy_Adversary

16th May 2009, 08:08

The S*n newspaper have a stunning piccie of the ejection today, I don't read the paper they have just shown it on BBC news.

teeteringhead

16th May 2009, 12:14

And I'm delighted that the Sun remembers to tell us that the "RAF Top Gun" pilot stayed with the "blazing jet" to "steer it past a civilian passenger aircraft" - nearly a full house in journo-cr@p bingo.

But seriously, some stunning pictures in the Current Bun, which don't seem to be on their website ... and another VERY big thank you to Mr Martin and Mr Baker.....

Edited to add: but I've just noticed that the website does confirm that "there were no passengers on board ......."!!!

BrakingStop

16th May 2009, 13:04

Went out and bought The Sun after reading the above post.

Truly amazing pictures!

peppermint_jam

16th May 2009, 15:43

A great set of pics in the Sun. Glad to hear the pilot is safe.

NigelOnDraft

16th May 2009, 18:01

Nice shot of a flare exiting stage right in pic 2 :ok:

Fortunately, the Sun has not cottoned on to what is under the wings to make the story even more lively :oh:

NoD

dilly

16th May 2009, 18:34

Not had a chance to get a copy of the Sun. The images aren't on the web yet....Could somebody put them on this page?

really not

16th May 2009, 19:40

Interesting phot on the S*n website. Looks like it crashed cos the GR7 pilot was trying to operate the radar!

SRENNAPS

16th May 2009, 20:25

I can find nothing about this story on the Sun website. Could somebody give me a link please?

I saw the photo very briefly on the BBC news about 0900 this morning but seen nothing since.

Sorry, but I have to ask.....were they real?

ian176

16th May 2009, 20:37

RAF top gun escapes crash | The Sun |News|Campaigns|Our Boys (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article2430296.ece)

stickmonkeytamer

16th May 2009, 20:48

Nice to see ZH796 being brought out of retirement for the Sun photo... they never quite get it right do they?

SMT

jayteeto

16th May 2009, 20:53

The reader 'comments' are excellent as well. I didn't realise that you normally break both legs whilst ejecting!!
The large 'Royal Navy' logo on the tail must have been a clue......
I have just seen the photos in the Sun today, they look pretty real to me. If anyone has a way of posting them, please do it. For those who missed the photos, do all you can to see them, outstanding pictures.

NigelOnDraft

16th May 2009, 21:14

Mechanical failure is being blamed, with the jet’s undercarriage failing to lower as it came in to land. A well evaluated analysis from the Sun website... when the printed edition shows a picture with the U/C down, and states '.. as it's wheels hit ground and collapse' :D

NoD

SRENNAPS

17th May 2009, 09:39

ian176,

Many thanks for the link.

Still no sign of these photos being published on the web:(

Chris Kebab

17th May 2009, 10:49

..and from where did the Sun obtain them?

November4

17th May 2009, 10:50

..and from where did the Sun obtain them?

An "eyewitness"..... :oh:

Very impressive photo whoever took it though.

mick2088

17th May 2009, 11:25

The story and pics were repeated in The Sunday Times today but nothing with the web version either.

HaveQuick2

17th May 2009, 11:36

Impressive pics here:-

PlaneTalk :: View topic - Spectacular Harrier incident in Sunday Times - Pilot OK (http://forum.planetalk.net/viewtopic.php?t=7928)

flipster

17th May 2009, 11:55

A nicely flown Martin-Baker 'let down'. Applause all round for the zero-zero seat.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Argosynoise

17th May 2009, 12:57

I see in the third photo -the one where the pilot has parachuted (probably more like dropped!) onto the runway- that he is missing his right sleeve. Was he piloting the aircraft in his vest or did it come off in the ejection?

Anyway delighted to ehar he is safe an well.

Runaway Gun

17th May 2009, 13:03

I suspect that's his pink/salmon/flesh coloured flying suit....

ZoomBoot

17th May 2009, 13:31

Managed to inflate his LSJ - good drills lofty

I heard he had his snares set up and was sharpening his axe by the time they got to him.

:ok:

Madbob

17th May 2009, 13:37

No mention yet of the brave fire crews who then had to deal with the blazing wreck after the "hero" pilot ejected; not that I want to take away any praises due from him. It's just a wish to give credit to others who seldom get a mention but on occasions like this have to be just as heroic.:ok:

I think that with two LGB's, flares, and a lot of F34 on fire they probably had quite a job dealing with that lot. Does anyone know if they were rocks or is fire and rescue a multi-national responsibility at Khandahar?

Great pics but an even greater outcome thanks to Messrs. Martin & Baker.:D
MB

LateArmLive

17th May 2009, 16:28

I'd be surprised if the fire crews have realised that there was a jet crash on the runway yet as they are too busy playing volleyball on the "beach" :} (note -this is a joke)

They are not Rocks out there at KAF, but a good bunch of contractors actually. They have looked after me a couple of times and I found them to be totally professional as I would expect of crash crews at any major airfield.

Hats off to fire crews worldwide :)

Tankertrashnav

17th May 2009, 16:29

stayed with the "blazing jet" to "steer it past a civilian passenger aircraft" - nearly a full house in journo-cr@p bingo

Could have been worse, I'm surprised they didn't find a school in the vicinity for him to steer away from. When I was doing a PPL I was surprised that immediate action when doing PFLs wasn't "Find school to avoid heroically".

Seriously, glad the guy's ok (or relatively ok anyway).

Phil_R

17th May 2009, 18:16

So how many is that we have left now?

I mean - seriously - do they have a bunch of spares hanging around somewhere waiting for attrition?

P

Jackonicko

17th May 2009, 18:40

There are more than enough single-seaters to support the FAF.

It would have been a tad more difficult had it been a twin-sticker, and losing a big bore engine will hurt.

But won't that buff out, anyway?

At Cottesmore, recently, the IPT gave an in service fleet of 76 (67 single seat and nine two-seat) Harriers with a FAF of 45 GR7/9 and 7 T10. A few days later MoD Main Building said an in service fleet of 74 with 49 in the FAF.

soddim

17th May 2009, 19:53

So refreshing compared with the Rumours and News forum that nobody is speculating about the cause. In that forum, for civilian accidents, there would already have been identified both causes and culpibilities and many of them.

Maybe this forum is getting more professional.

Also refreshing that the pilot realised in time that Harriers are easier to replace than pilots.

LateArmLive

17th May 2009, 21:02

That's because nothing can replace a Harrier Pilot :ok:

stickmonkeytamer

17th May 2009, 23:48

nothing can replace a Harrier Pilot

Nothing in the cockpit? Like a UAV with Hellfire??

SMT

HighTow

18th May 2009, 14:15

Good grief. It even made it as the front page story of one of the Swedish red-tops today...

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/7407/3447786819z.jpg

pendrifter

18th May 2009, 18:37

All the comments about ejection reminded of a book read a long time back (and still have).
The Man in the Hot Seat published in 1969.
The story of Doddy Hay, the human test dummy for the famous bang seat.
This man certainly knows the pain barrier!
If you can get it, a really good read.

SunderlandMatt

19th May 2009, 18:01

Please the pilot is okay. Welcome to the club old man! :ok:

ian16th

19th May 2009, 20:24

Pendrifter,

I've just quoted from that same book on the thread V Bomber Ejector seat scandal.

Yes it is to be recommended.

TreeGreen

20th May 2009, 06:04

Does Anybody know which SQD the acft belonged to?

TEEEJ

20th May 2009, 08:27

TreeGreen,

According to the Harrier List ZG478/68 was on the strength of the Naval Strike Wing. No markings. Info correct as of 5th May 2009.

See the lists on the following.

Harrier List UK -- Home (http://www.harrierlist.co.uk/)

TJ

BrakingStop

20th May 2009, 18:06

The Sun quotes that he's from No 1(F) Sqn, which we can obviously rely on...

H Peacock

20th May 2009, 18:48

Managed to inflate his LSJ - good drills lofty

I thought the modern seat had auto LSJ inflation and auto PSP lowering?

PPRuNeUser0211

20th May 2009, 19:52

no,yes........

Craven Moorhed

20th May 2009, 20:50

I hear the shock of the incident has turned his hair a funny colour.......

artyhug

20th May 2009, 23:19

I wondered what the smell was, I blamed it on the cat....

Greenleader

21st May 2009, 09:43

Just remember bloggsy.. All I want to hear is a good ejection decision!! Sweet work Centurion!

PPRuNeUser0211

21st May 2009, 16:37

Mate everyone knows that the best stink of wee...

BrakingStop

21st May 2009, 18:02

I think that was the smell of his eyebrows burning...

Dunhovrin

22nd May 2009, 10:55

When I was doing a PPL I was surprised that immediate action when doing PFLs wasn't "Find school to avoid heroically".

When I was a stude I was told if the engine failed to point at the nearest school. Since I never flew in trim there wasn't a hope in hell of the aircraft hitting it.

TreeGreen

23rd May 2009, 12:54

To say I was close enough to the scene would be an understatement. Just wanna try and get hold of this pilot to say thanks as there were definately passengers onboard the "passenger" aircraft and this guy who was flying, to the best of my knowledge, saved my life and the lives of the people on my aircraft. When he first came down he was pointed straight at me but he managed to steer it away from us before he ejected.

TreeGreen (Still)

Mach the Knife

23rd May 2009, 17:56

TEEEJ

23rd May 2009, 18:01

No probs. TreeGreen,

I've sent you a PM.

TJ

Runaway Gun

23rd May 2009, 19:52

Seems a bit harsh Mach, as TG seems to have witnessed the event!

TreeGreen

24th May 2009, 13:23

A lovely sentiment Treegreen, but from the moment the aircraft "arrived" at the threshold (well nearly) and the undercarriage broke off the pilot was merely a passenger himself, fortunately he was at least pointing along the long straight thing with enough momentum to not stray too far off it; he made a good D to leave when the flames started to overtake him.

Sorry Mach I am definately not one who gets into these long and drawn out spelling competitions but I have been told that once an acft is scraping on the ground if there is sufficient speed that you still have a small amount of directional control through the rudder and thats what it seemed to me like he was doing but I am not a Harrier pilot and never have been so I stand under correction. I have since flown into Kandahar and you can definately see that the aircraft went from the right to left and then veered back to the right hand side before ejecting in front of me.

Mach the Knife

24th May 2009, 15:04

TG, if the Service Inquiry President has not contacted you for a witness statement please contact him, I am sure any positive information would be well received. If you cannot find a number for the SI drop me a PM and I will put you in contact with the right office to get it. :ok:

Madbob

3rd Jun 2010, 11:35

Thanks for posting the video.

Kudos to the pilot, firstly as he got the nozzles into the braking stop to slow the jet. (Notice the flames moving forward just before he ejected.)

Secondly, he got out whilst the jet was still moving, so on landing he avoided the risk of landing in the flames and potential fire-ball.

One observation though is that it took over two minutes for the crash crews to arrive.....not good if one is trapped in a burning jet. I thought that the response time ought to have been quicker though I don't know the location of the fire section relative to where the jet stopped.

Thirdly, note that the ac was armed and seriously alight so the firemen had to be fairly brave to even approach the jet when instincts would be to run away!

MB

Just This Once...

3rd Jun 2010, 12:28

Madbod:
Kudos to the pilot

Always.

Madbob:
...firstly as he got the nozzles into the braking stop to...

...move the flames from safely behind the aircraft to a position where they could engulf the entire aircraft...

glad rag

3rd Jun 2010, 16:35

Total admiration for the firemen going to a tooled up burning FJ, with the pilot out and safe.:D:D

Hope they got more than a MiD for that one.:D:D:D

GR.

Aerouk

3rd Jun 2010, 17:47

Does anyone know what happened with this, did he have a problem prior to landing and knew it would be a bumpy one and if so why didn't he hover the aircraft down rather than land on it's belly?

Or was it a landing that just went wrong?

RileyDove

3rd Jun 2010, 18:42

Engine appears to be producing plenty of power judging by aircraft speed -rate of decent appears to be the critical component.

BEagle

3rd Jun 2010, 19:29

however I must say I'm not in the military yet...

Please do not clutter this thread with ignorant comments.

You know who you are!

Craven Moorhed

3rd Jun 2010, 19:52

Interesting video.....

As long as he got out OK, that's all that matters ?
Is the ginger warrior flying again ?

Aerouk

3rd Jun 2010, 20:01

I'm not leaving ignorant comments, I've not written any explanation or criticism towards the pilot because I'm in no way a position to do such a thing. I'm just wanting to understand the video a bit better from the people that are in the know.

Alber Ratman

3rd Jun 2010, 20:22

Aircraft nose pitching up with the stab being forced to a nose down position?? Nice stall.. Nozzle lever moved inadvertenly like the 2nd of August 2002?? Cannot see the cold nozzles clearly to tell if they are..

tarantonight

3rd Jun 2010, 21:37

This guy needs to be bought a beer or two staying as long as he did. Surely??!:D

Alber Ratman

3rd Jun 2010, 23:04

Zero height ejections are fraught affairs and he possibly thought it was safer to stay with the aircraft and get out when it stopped.. Until he realised he was surrounded by a fireball. It would have been doubtful if he would have got out when the aircraft stopped without ejecting, even thought it seems the cockpit wasn't surrounded by burning F34 when the heap stopped. It would have been a bit too warm regardless.

Runaway Gun

4th Jun 2010, 05:56

With no hours on type, not even microsoft sim whilst on my relaxing lounge suite, but the benefit of watching this video three times, I would have done something different if it was me... ;)

longer ron

4th Jun 2010, 10:26

Pure speculation of course...Flaps selected 'Auto' instead of 'Stol' ??(or flap mode malfunction)
Difficult to see clearly from vid,but from the ejection pic - the flaps appear to be at 25 and the ailerons appear not drooped.

Thelma Viaduct

4th Jun 2010, 14:20

The vid has been pulled from t'inters, which is a shame. :suspect:

Mad Scientist

4th Jun 2010, 14:51

Try LiveLeak (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=28e_1275619112)they have a copy.

Inverted81

4th Jun 2010, 15:40

LiveLeak.com - Redefining the Media (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=28e_1275619112)

stinkydocker

4th Jun 2010, 16:08

We had to sit for best part of an hours rotors running waiting for the fire crews to deal with it before ATC would let us depart,the who airfield went Black for a while...

The big concern was the Bombs on it going off, also you could hear a Pred operator arguing with the Yank ATC as his aircraft was parked and over heating with even more bombs but couldn't shut down so they were afraid of more explosions....

ATC wouldn't let them move.....

jindabyne

4th Jun 2010, 19:58

Whatever - glad that the young blood was unscathed, and lives to fight another day

TEEEJ

4th Jun 2010, 23:13

The video is now back on You Tube.

viBxzd8T0RY

TJ

LateArmLive

5th Jun 2010, 15:56

Speculators,

I doubt you will get an answer here on why the jet crashed. Maybe the Service Inquiry will give you all the answers you want.
:rolleyes:

Thelma Viaduct

5th Jun 2010, 16:48

I doubt you will get an answer here on why the jet crashed. Maybe the Service Inquiry will give you all the answers you want.

It crashed because it hit the ground really hard.

charliegolf

5th Jun 2010, 17:27

I wonder how many aircrew watches and sunglasses will sadly need to be written off?:ok:

Glad MB worked as stated on the tin!

CG

longer ron

5th Jun 2010, 21:50

I doubt you will get an answer here on why the jet crashed. Maybe the Service Inquiry will give you all the answers you want.

publishing date ??:)

TEEEJ

6th Jun 2010, 00:37

Longer Ron wrote

publishing date ??

Keep an eye on the following website.

'Following the completion of a full RAF Board of Inquiry into the causes of a serious military aircraft accident, the Directorate of Air Staff prepares a Military Aircraft Accident Summary (MAAS), which is presented to Parliament.'

Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Air Safety and Aviation | Military Aircraft Accident Summary (MAAS) (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/AirSafetyandAviation/MilitaryAircraftAccidentSummarymaas.htm)

Ministry of Defence | About Defence | Corporate Publications | Air Safety and Aviation Publications | MAAS (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AirSafetyandAviationPublications/MAAS/)

TJ

Abbey Road

11th Feb 2012, 17:41

Keep an eye on the following website.

'Following the completion of a full RAF Board of Inquiry into the causes of a serious military aircraft accident, the Directorate of Air Staff prepares a Military Aircraft Accident Summary (MAAS), which is presented to Parliament.'

So, some 18 months further on from that comment and still no report. Is there any official (reputable) word out about what happened here? Not interested in armchair theories, please, just the low-down gen. Thanks.

ICBM

12th Feb 2012, 17:14

No report out yet so there is no official word out about what happened Abbey Road. I suggest we sit tight and await its release into the public domain - you'll see the latest MAAS is dated 2007 so it cannot be that far away.

Then again.....

Abbey Road

21st Feb 2012, 20:22

ICBM, how 4erking long do they need????? No wonder the MoD budget, and procurement and everything else is a horse's 4rse. These people give bureaucracy a bad name. :rolleyes:

Coochycool

21st Feb 2012, 21:13

Maybe theyre waiting for Harrier to exit service so it wont leave any costly implications? Whats that you say........?

BEagle

21st Jun 2012, 12:09

Was the cause of this accident ever officially revealed?

noprobs

21st Jun 2012, 13:24

Yes, the report has been published, but I can't find it online. It makes interesting reading for any pilot, but especially for QFIs. Look for the discrepancy between target downwind altitude and that actually achieved. It was a steep overhead recovery suitable for a high threat environment, with pressure to expedite and other distractions, that led to a very high rate of descent.

BOAC

21st Jun 2012, 18:46

Ooh! You are so tantalising with your 'inside knowledge' - and just teasing us, I know. Let me guess. A braking stop full flap/gear descent onto final, with nose too low and insufficient excess power to arrest the RoD while maintaining a safe alpha?

BOAC

21st Jun 2012, 19:43

Ah well - we will have to keep searching for the findings.

muttywhitedog

21st Jun 2012, 20:02

I read a hard copy of this the other day.

6foottanker

22nd Jun 2012, 02:23

I suspect that since the incident occured in an operational theatre, there is an periodic embargo on general release while the operation is ongoing. I reference the fairly recent release into the public domain of several accident and incident reports from during ops in Iraq.

Tourist

22nd Jun 2012, 05:50

Nice of you all to discuss someone elses mistakes on a public forum guys.

I bet he is really chuffed.

Ken Scott

22nd Jun 2012, 13:54

Given that the ac type has now been withdrawn from service are there any actual lessons to be learned?!

Nice to see a Harrier thread back on these pages, WEBF where are you when we need you?

tarantonight

22nd Jun 2012, 22:22

As long as human beings fly aeroplanes (or operate any kind of machines), mistakes will happen.

How many of you posting negative comments here have got it wrong and got away with it? If you are honest................

The pilot in this instance is clearly a skilled operative to have been sitting in that seat in the first place. And human.

TN:cool:.

LateArmLive

23rd Jun 2012, 17:01

JustThisOnce:

What he was doing with the nozzles is anyone's guess but the amount of nose down achieved was remarkable

Do you have a lot of experience of these types of recovery into KAF?

30mRad

24th Jun 2012, 10:39

Ken Scott wrote:

Given that the ac type has now been withdrawn from service are there any actual lessons to be learned?!

You'd be surprised how much can be learnt from an accident/incident that is applicable to other aircraft types/roles. A GR1 went off the runway in Goose Bay years ago due to a wet runway. Had the F3 force been aware of it (not pointing any fingers here) it might have saved the loss of an F3 in v similar circumstances years later.

BOAC

24th Jun 2012, 11:07

LateArm/Tourist - indeed. All this started because posters love to 'hint' that they know something we don't but cannot tell us. Far better to STFU until the report is in the PD - or, of course, publish it here so we can all see?