U.S. F18 crash landing at BAH Rwy 12

[Freighty]

Just got news that a U.S. F18 crash landed at BAH Rwy 12

No further info yet

[DaveReidUK]

US fighter jet crash lands at Bahrain International Airport - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fighter-jet-crash-lands-bahrain-airport-49174616)

[Freighty]

Rwy open again

[Concours77]

Meaning what, exactly?

I think it is a mechanical thing. But it couldn't be pilot error. Who can land a blue water jet on concrete that doesn't pitch and roll?

[pattern_is_full]

Glad the zero-zero seat worked as advertised.

From this picture, it looks like the end result was hardly catastrophic - but heading off the hard stuff at 100+ kts, I guess you assume the worst and get out while you can.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/nintchdbpict000345269354.jpg?strip=all&w=960&quality=100

[OldLurker]

From this picture, it looks like the end result was hardly catastrophic - but heading off the hard stuff at 100+ kts, I guess you assume the worst and get out while you can.... especially if you're carrying something flammable or explosive under the belly and you don't want to be nearby if the undercarriage collapses ...
Any expert know what he's got there? External fuel tank?

[wiggy]

No idea what the thinking is on the F-18 but there was thinking on at least one older type with zero zero seats that going cross country over rough ground could possibly seriously compromise your ability to subsequently eject successfully due to possible damage/deformation to the cockpit seat/ structure. It was therefore pretty much SOP to brief that you would eject if you were heading off the side/end of the runway at speed, regardless of stores being carried.

[Basil]

Survived + member of caterpillar club = dinner story for life.
What's not to like?

P.S. As Navy pilot prob not high on the scale of possible stressful events.

[Intruder]

Any expert know what he's got there? External fuel tank?
Yes, I don't see anything except the tank.

[Clockwork Mouse]

Looks like a recce pod. He wouldn't forced land with a fuel tank fitted.

[PersonFromPorlock]

Is the absence of the seat and canopy weight enough to explain the nosewheel's being off the ground?

[Machinbird]

Lost a former squadron mate on a F-18 flip over after a landing gear structural failure.
They really do not design military fighters for cross country ground travel. Getting out beforehand is probably recommended in F-18 NATOPS.

[SpazSinbad]

Sorry to hear about that 'Machinbird'. With minimal information so far I'll add a quote from USN about the above accident (I understand 'mishap' is the term but....):
"...“An F/A-18E of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146 assigned to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) departed the runway and the pilot ejected during an emergency landing at Bahrain International Airport Aug. 12, 2017.

“During a flight from the Nimitz, an F/A-18E experienced an engine malfunction and attempted to divert to Sheik Isa Air Base, Bahrain. Unable to make it to Isa, the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at Bahrain International Airport. Due to the malfunction, the aircraft could not be stopped on the runway and the pilot ejected from the aircraft as it departed the runway...." https://news.usni.org/2017/08/12/nimitz-super-hornet-crashes-emergency-landing-bahrain-airport-pilot-safe-ejecting

Without explaining why and knowing the 'engine malfunction' here is a quote from the FnA18EFNatox:
"...7.8.1 After Landing. Do not taxi with the right engine shut down, as normal brakes and NWS are not available...." https://info.publicintelligence.net/F18-EF-000.pdf (19.5Mb)

[Airbubba]

Lost a former squadron mate on a F-18 flip over after a landing gear structural failure.

Was this your former shipmate? He was skipper of VX-4 when his F/A-18A, BuNo 162435, flipped after skidding off the runway and dragging a wingtip in the wet ground. The accident was eventually attributed to a failed planing link in the landing gear.

Navy Pilot Dies After Jet Flips at Miramar

December 04, 1985|H.G. REZA | Times Staff Writer

A Navy pilot died Tuesday after his FA-18 fighter skidded for 5,000 feet as it landed on a slick runway at Miramar Naval Air Station. The plane then flipped, trapping the pilot upside-down in his aircraft.

Lt. John Semcken, public affairs spokesman at Miramar, identified the pilot as Capt. Henry M. Kleemann, 42. Kleemann, who was married and had four children, was one of two Navy pilots assigned to the aircraft carrier Nimitz who shot down two Libyan fighters in the Gulf of Sirte on Aug. 19, 1981, after the Libyans fired at the U.S. planes.

Kleemann was stationed at Point Mugu Naval Air Station near Oxnard, Semcken said.

He said the pilot was landing on the 12,000-foot runway at 9:10 a.m., after flying in from Point Mugu, when the accident occurred. After the plane had rolled about 5,000 feet down the runway, it flipped over. A Miramar crash crew worked feverishly for about 30 minutes to free the strapped-in pilot from the cockpit. The crew eventually brought in a crane to lift the front of the jet fighter high enough to pull him out. Despite spilling its fuel, the plane did not burn.

The injured pilot was airlifted by Life Flight helicopter to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he died at 10:25 a.m. Officials would not divulge the cause of death.

Semcken said Kleemann was flying to Miramar on a routine training mission. A Navy spokesman said that the FA-18 squadron at Point Mugu evaluates the weapons systems that are part of the sophisticated fighter's hardware.

The $22-million FA-18 Hornet is built by McDonnell Douglas. Miramar officials said the plane did not deploy a drag chute when it landed, and it appeared that Kleemann was relying solely on the brakes.

Navy officials are also trying to determine why the plane's canopy landed several feet away from the aircraft, and if Kleemann could have been trying to eject before the craft rolled over.

"All of this is just speculation at this point. We have no real clue as to what could have caused the crash. It's under investigation," Semcken said. He said the plane has computerized landing and takeoff systems and a computerized anti-skidding system.

"We're looking at the landing gear and plane's wheels to see what went wrong. The investigators are looking to see if the anti-skidding system failed."

Navy Pilot Dies After Jet Flips at Miramar - latimes (http://articles.latimes.com/1985-12-04/local/me-470_1_landing-gear)

[cornish-stormrider]

A salutory lesson, purely from an erks PoV though.....
Glad he got out in time, if you think you've got to go.... Then go.

Just don't forget to buy lots of beer for the team who serviced your seat/chute and survival equipment