Harrier Down in Rutland - Pilot OK

[LooseArticle]

http://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/BREAKING-NEWS-Harrier-crashes-in.4189337.jp

[airborne_artist]

And http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7457288.stm

[stickmonkeytamer]

Another MB tie winner- I hope all is well... Fast reaction from the stn- 7 mins!

BBC showing photo of a SHAR on their newspage- typical!!!

SMT

[blue monday]

Theres camera phone video on the site now, a local builder took judginf form the article. Hop he didn't breath in too many fumes, lots of nasty hazardous materials on the harriers!!

[Satellite_Driver]

I was wondering about that. I dimly remember one of the scenarios in Engineer Officer Training 1 involving a visiting GR.5 (as they then were) crashing - you were expected to remember the lesson on carbon fibre debris hazard, look up the relevant engineering order and brief the crash guard / recovery teams accordingly.

[Silent Witness]

I was just thinking about the smoke inhalation issue. In my time with Mountain Rescue we had a brief on burning Harriers once. The smoke contains tons of horrible stuff. We all agreed that crash guard could wait until Fireman Sam had expended a few tenders. The general concensus was stay upwind!

[Ewan Whosearmy]

On which note, does the Harrier carry Hydrazine for any kind of EPU?

[HOODED]

No it has a GTS/APU so not required.

[Yellow Sun]

The smoke contains tons of horrible stuff.

Fortunately it did not appear to burn. At least there was no smoke visible from 2-3 miles away.

YS

[OneOffDave]

That's my real memory from the last MACR exercise I attended at RAF Marham, the briefing about the dangers from MMMF. No fire in this case was a v good thing. Luckily on the exercise we were playing using the real weather so the still air meant we didn't have to 'evacuate' any of the good citizens of Norfolk.

[Saintsman]

3 hrs and no theories yet? :hmm:

[Ewan Whosearmy]

Reminds me a little of the Serb town folk who jumped up and down on the F-117 wreckage in the late 1990s. They lacked any appreciation for the safe handling of RAM!

[Strangelove PhD]

My mate reckons it hit a UFO

http://beerinfood.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/beer_tramp.gif

[MostlyModerate]

and I quote from the BBC 6 o'clock TV news..

" the pilot ejected, using his parachute".

[Green Flash]

I thought he would have ejected using his seat but hey, what do I know.

[Topofclimb]

Just love the report from the "force commander!", whaterver one of those is, "he was proceeding in a southerly direction when I saw a flash, then a large flash from what is now the crash site" This really seams to clear things up!

[VFE]

Going by the comments from 'force commander' my theory is that it crashed.

VFE.

[Silent Witness]

He ejected using his parachute? Those chaps at Higher Denham must have been working round the clock. It must be the new Mk16 very lightweight. Any news on the pilot bless him? Has he got the usual numb bum and coccyx?

[Spunky Monkey]

Any idea who the mate is?
Hope is okay, looking forward to seeing him around town in a new tie.

[MostlyHarmless]

Cavitation pitting in the wind sheer super-cooled fuel pump flap / nozzles disconnect again no doubt.

Or maybe a bird.

[Lurking123]

Maybe he just f&@*ed up?

No, that can't be right, he's a Sky God. ;)

[airborne_artist]

The Joint Force Harrier Commander is also Harry Staish at Cottesmore.

[exscribbler]

It seems the pilot "was effectively strapped to the end of a rocket." Thank God; I would hate to think he'd been ineffectively strapped to anything.

According to the video, he'd completed his "sauté." Multi-tasking or what? :E

Glad he's OK, though. :ok:

[BOAC]

Going by the comments from 'force commander' my theory is that it crashed.
VFE - for ***s sake - can't you wait for the enquiry:mad::mad:?

[MakD]

Reports that it was a female NSW pilot (Spider1) - ZD408/37A

[clicker]

Reports that it was a female NSW pilot

So she was having problems parking it then :E

[Mr Grim]

A true Birdstrike then!!

[Silent Witness]

hahahah fantastic!

[cornish-stormrider]

Mock all you like, I reckon the interface will be back p*ss taking with the rest of them soon ( I Hope ).

Regardless of cause, salutory lesson for the day, Eject In Time.

No doubt it will be put down to high spirits though!:E

[Rigger1]

I have it from an senior Eng source that it was "Sh*t in the carburettor", but they didn't say how often you had to do it!

[Il Duce]

So it crashed just outside Ashwell, which is about 3 miles WEST of Cottesmore...... and it came down 1 and a half miles NORTH EAST of Cottesmore............and (according to another "news" source) just outside Stamford.
How many Harriers crashed yesterday?!! We, the public, demand an end to all these Harrier incidents! Has no one considered the safety of all those passengers? Disgraceful!

[Gainesy]

I'd put it down to wrestling with the controls while trying to find a school to avoid.

Also there are no references to pressing the ejector button.:suspect:
Very shoddy reporting.

[Navy_Adversary]

"I'd put it down to wrestling with the controls while trying to find a school to avoid."

or in Ashwells case, a prison.:)

[ShyTorque]

Quote:
Originally Posted by VFE
Going by the comments from 'force commander' my theory is that it crashed.
VFE

- for ***s sake - can't you wait for the enquiry?

What? Are you saying that until the BOI have finished we shouldn't assume it's crashed? Could this be a cover up and in fact it's still up there?

[Blindside6]

A local coroner said "I know absolutely nothing about flying but these aircraft should be grounded until they can carry out their missions without leaving the ground".

[exscribbler]

According to today's Getelarph the "RAF pilot steered his Harrier jet away from houses..." A Sky God indeed.

[spannerless]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/48586/Harrier-jet-crashes-near-village

Hope she/he is well.

Airframe posted was correct.

Eyewitness reports of flames from the rear of the aircraft?

wait un see I guess?

:hmm:

[mr fish]

updade from bbc ceefax, the pilot came down to earth using a 'PARACHUTE'. well thanks for the military insight there, heres me thinking he used a f:mad:g bouncy castle!!

[Lurking123]

Rumour has it that this is not the first Harrier to crash. :oh:

[sunshine band]

ZD408- wasn't that the same frame that was mortared in KDH?? Are they going to rebuild it again????

[advocatusDIABOLI]

Calm down everybody.

Might have been the almost typical 'Harrier' engine fail. Based on position, looks to me like downwind. So, either joining the Cct after games, or after take off?

Doesn't really matter, the guy is fine, and planted his beast somewhere sensible.

By the grace of God we ALL go.........

Regards, and keep safe,

Advo

[Lurking123]

Calm down, you expect us to calm down? This is important stuff. Why was the aircraft downwind? Is there a link between being downwind and "typical Harrier engine failure(s)"? Do I live in a HDIZ (Harrier Downwind Impact Zone)? We are a democratic society which preserves the right to speculate and worry.

[BOAC]

Quite right, L123 - we deserve to know. Ignore 'Advo'.

It looks as if the bona mates really have become 'bomber pilots' since my day - look at the size of 'downwind'So it crashed just outside Ashwell, which is about 3 miles WEST of Cottesmore...... and it came down 1 and a half miles NORTH EAST of Cottesmore............and (according to another "news" source) just outside Stamford. - whatever happened to proper circuits?

[Charizma]

Mortared a/c was 57 or 58 i think but definately not 37A.

Jet had flames exiting the hot nozzles and fleet currently grounded awaiting pol checks

[SammySu]

BOAC - "proper" circuits not flown so as to avoid overflying local villages, - a policy completely vindicated by yesterdays events.

[BOAC]

Roger, SS. There was a teeny weeny bit of 'TIC' there.:)

[ShyTorque]

Don't know what all the fuss is about. We used to lose one almost every month in the 1980s in RAFG and no-one batted an eyelid, provided the pilot popped out safely. Most of 'em were caused by birds headbutting fan blades.

[wobble2plank]

My GOD!

Don't the tax paying public have a right to know that these DEATH TRAPS are flying around on ONLY ONE ENGINE!.

I assume the other is in refit somewhere or tagged as war stock fit only!

Could've saved some time by crashing into the prison, lets face it that's where all the civvies would have us if they could ;) after crashing their hard earned social security money.

:}:yuk::sad:

[WhiteOvies]

At least this one didn't inconvenience the traffic. The locals around Kidlington were much more miffed! :{

Glad the pilot is ok, we can always replace aircraft.

PS - Quick translation:
The Force Commander = CO Cottesmore
The Force Engineer = OC Forward/Oc Eng Wing
The Deputy Force Commander = OC Ops Cottesmore

After the 1(F) Sqn Article everythings going Jedi!!

[Zoom]

By the grace of God we ALL go.........

Ummm, so how does this apply to me? I haven't seen a Harrier or been near Cottesmore for years! But I did have a nearly very nasty moment with my Teasmade yesterday morning at 2ft 6ins ABFL (above bedroom floor level). Close or what!

[oli,_the_original]

Why is everybody worried about flames from the nozzles? After all, I'm sure they're just testing out the new afterburner mod:E

Oli

[BOAC]

Zoom - was that your Gobling Teasmaid, perchance?

[Kengineer-130]

I have been informed that it was a head gasket failure? :eek:... I thought they sorted these ages ago?

[D SQDRN 97th IOTC]

not sure what high key is for the harrier, but unless he flies circuits at FL150, a engine failure downwind is going to be, ah, let's say.....

problematic

recall a donkey failure in Gnat near north weald a couple of years ago (ok, so it wasn't failure.......more of a fuel problem), and a certain "kitten" doing a superb job of parking it in a field straight on

there was plenty of debate as to why he didn't pull the handle
he would have been in the press for days afterwards if he had, and what with the stories of missing the school and M11, a positive hero!

do we know from what squadron the harrier was from? was it RAF or Navy?

[wobble2plank]

Oli,

Have a look in the Fleet Air Arm museum in Yeovilton .....


Sitting on a stand, next to Concorde is ........... an afterburning Pegasus!!!!

Apparently, the fuel burn was so horrendous that it gave even less than the current 20 mins on CAP if you gave the audacity to carry weapons, so was scrapped.

W2P

[airborne_artist]

D Sqn - all the reports seem to suggest it was a Navy mate. The Harriers are shuffled around fairly frequently (and rotated through Afg, JUMP and deep maintenance every 720 hrs) so an airframe does not stay with a squadron for very long in most cases.

[ORAC]

Sitting on a stand, next to Concorde is ........... an afterburning Pegasus!!!! Surely that would be plenum chamber burning?

[oli,_the_original]

W2P, wow! You learn something new everyday:D I'll have a look when i go (It's on the ever increasing list of places:8)

ORAC, it is indeed Plenum Chamber Burning, and heres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_P.1154) the wiki aritcle on the prototype fitted with the engine.

Cheers, Oli

[fastener]

The Harrier has a much too smaller wing to enable it to glide properly after an engine failure. I would hope that a replacement type will be procured by removing the wing, engine (original far to unreliable!) and avionics. The original fuselage will be kept. A new wing, naturaly designed for engine out ops, will be fitted along with a new donk or two and new avionics designed by nintendo. The whole project will be of course handled by British Wasteofspace. We should have the new a/c with us in a decade or two and within cost allocated to the new project (a spokesman from BAE/MOD said). The new a/c will be multi role able to find and sink subs and ships, perform ground attack and loiter for 10 hrs to enable the AEW systems to provide invaluble information as well as supply a link for SKY TV news and BFBS. A ballistic recovery system will also be fitted to enable the whole shebang to be recovered in the very unlikely event that any of the new systems fail.

[advocatusDIABOLI]

OK, fair point, start worrying! I just hope they don't start doing 'mini ccts' again, otherwise everyone in the area will get their own Harrier in their gardens! :E

Advo

[Tightflester]

The whole project will be of course handled by British Wasteofspace

I think you'll find Lockheed Martin are 'handling the whole project' for the F-35b

[Hägar]

Maybe they have secretly gone back to more basic versions of the ejection seat. One of the earliest concepts was for the pilot to jettison the canopy and pull the parachute ripcord. When chute popped out, its pulled the pilot out of the cockpit - seat stayed behind. But, after some severe injuries and rudder rash, this approach was abandoned.

[sycamore]

Hopefully, not in jest ,Hagar,as it did happen to a BAe t-p,with tragic results; there is an accident report, somewhere,but basically the drogue fired in the cruise,not the seat,and the pilot was pulled out,and the `chute shredded.The Harrier carried on Westwards and was photographed by a USAF C141,eventually crashing SW of Ireland.

[4mastacker]

According to the local BBC web-site, the pilot has been released from hospital. That's good news.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7463802.stm