View Full Version : B1 Grounded
Reports say the B1 is grounded due to ejection seat issues, anyone know what's going off?
isaneng
8th Jun 2018, 20:04
Not the seats..........
GeeRam
8th Jun 2018, 20:32
Not the seats..........
:E
Three of them had arrived into Fairford at the end of last week.....guess they will be here a bit longer than originally planned now.
Nige321
8th Jun 2018, 21:16
Not the seats..........
USAF statement says otherwise....
Airforcetimes (https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/06/08/air-force-b-1b-bombers-grounded-after-a-problem-with-its-ejection-seats/)
atakacs
8th Jun 2018, 22:07
Being 30+ year in service it is rather strange that this issue surfaces now.
Could say the same thing about the Hawk...
JimNtexas
9th Jun 2018, 06:38
https://taskandpurpose.com/b-1b-lancer-emergency-landing/
Rumor TLDR; fire - ac orders manual ejection, OSO (bomb nav) seat doesn't fire, AC decides to land after all.
chevvron
9th Jun 2018, 11:43
'All 4 crew members landed safely'.
I'm glad about that; what about the aircraft?:rolleyes:
Shows crew loyalty and courage. Prusambly the captain will get charged for disobeying the pilot notes - and then hopefully given a medal and promotion for doing the same.
Carbon Bootprint
9th Jun 2018, 14:43
Being 30+ year in service it is rather strange that this issue surfaces now.It's not a new problem, just one that hasn't surfaced recently.The B-1 airframe experienced multiple ejection seat issues (https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-1b-loss.htm) early in its service life. During the B-1’s development in 1984, the prototype suffered a crash which resulted in the death of the test pilot, Doug Benefield, and serious injuries to two other crew members after the ejection capsule failed; another ejection failure caused the death of a crewmember in September 1987. B-1B’s ejection system has performed without major issue in the 30 years since until this incident.My nephew was based at Dyess not that long ago and was part of the teams that keep these things in the air. I'll ask him his views on this next time we get together.
OT, many years ago I was at KAMA (Amarillo) when a B-1 did a touch and go. Fascinating sight, incredible sound! :ok:
Carbon Bootprint
9th Jun 2018, 14:44
Shows crew loyalty and courage. Prusambly the captain will get charged for disobeying the pilot notes - and then hopefully given a medal and promotion for doing the same.I second the motion! :ok:
Tay Cough
10th Jun 2018, 13:43
Interesting comments on a US forum that this could be a comparable issue to the F-111A operation in Vietnam, which had issues with the escape pod.
Rhino power
10th Jun 2018, 13:57
Interesting comments on a US forum that this could be a comparable issue to the F-111A operation in Vietnam, which had issues with the escape pod.
I wonder why, what are the comments? The B-1B has individual ACES II ejection seats which are automatically sequenced, it doesn't have an escape capsule...
-RP
…..AC decides to land after all.
What a clever aeroplane !
Carbon Bootprint
10th Jun 2018, 16:43
What a clever aeroplane !
That's funny, but I think AC in this case may mean Aircraft Commander.
Flying_Anorak
11th Jun 2018, 22:50
Originally the B1 was intended to have an ejectable crew module (as per F111 and the HP Victor initially) but I'm uncertain if the prototype which crashed had this? Subsequently changed to individual Aces II seats (same as F15 & F16 etc).
tdracer
11th Jun 2018, 23:54
another ejection failure caused the death of a crewmember in September 1987
That crash occurred not far from my boyhood home - my dad knew a local reporter who overflew the crash site shortly afterwards - he said there was nothing left that even suggested it had once been an airplane.
They apparently hit a flock of large birds while practicing terrain following - one or more of the birds penetrated the leading edge of the wing and took out the hydraulics causing loss of control and the aircraft nosed it at something like 500 knots :uhoh:
Three crew were lost - there were six on-board but only four ejection seats, one died when his seat malfunctioned - the other two crew had parachutes but it happened so fast they never had a chance.
I never heard if they still allowed more crew that ejection seats after that crash.
megan
11th Jun 2018, 23:55
The first three aircraft had the capsule, the forth reverted to ejection seats.
sandiego89
12th Jun 2018, 17:12
....flock of birds...
I never heard if they still allowed more crew that ejection seats after that crash....
Think it was a large Pelican- which can be huge...I seem to recall there was a restriction put into place after the 1987 accident that severely limited further jump seat riders- especially in the low level regime...?
During the capsule ejection on the B-1A #2 the parachute risers did not properly deploy, putting the capsule in a nose down, right side down, attitude. The capsule impacted the desert floor in this attitude, without the extra cushioning effect of the deployed airbags.
Airbubba
19th Jun 2018, 19:43
Shows crew loyalty and courage. Prusambly the captain will get charged for disobeying the pilot notes - and then hopefully given a medal and promotion for doing the same.
Looks like medals rather than courts-martial in this case according to the SecAF:
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson on Monday confirmed speculation that the Dyess B-1 had to make an emergency landing last month after an ejection seat didn't blow.
The B-1 crew "were out training," Wilson said during a speech at the Defense Communities summit in Washington, D.C.
Aboard the aircraft she said, we [had] an instructor pilot and "a brand-new crew."
"And the indicator light goes off that they have a fire," she said. "They go through their checklist of everything they're supposed to do. The next thing on the checklist is to eject....they start the ejection sequence."
Only "the cover comes off, and nothing else happens," she said, referring to the weapons systems officer's ejection hatch. "The seat doesn't fire. Within two seconds of knowing that that had happened, the aircraft commander says, 'Cease ejection, we'll try to land.'"
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. May 1. Local media reported at the time (http://ktxs.com/news/abilene/b-1-bomber-from-dyess-made-emergency-landing-in-midland) the non-nuclear B-1B was not carrying weapons when it requested to land because of "an engine flameout."
Weeks later, images surfaced on Facebook purporting to show a burnt-out engine from the incident. Photos from The Associated Press and Midland Reporter-Telegram also showed the B-1B, tail number 86-0109, was missing a ceiling hatch, leading to speculation an in-flight ejection was attempted (https://www.military.com/defensetech/2018/05/21/social-media-photos-raise-questions-about-b-1-emergency-landing.html).
The back ceiling hatch, which hovers over either the offensive or defensive weapons systems officer depending on mission set, was open, although all four crew members were shown sitting on the Midland flightline in photos.
Unidentified individuals told the popular Facebook group Air Force Amn/Nco/Snco that the offensive weapons system officer attempted a manual ejection, but the ACES II seat did not blow, leading the crew to make an emergency landing instead.
Officials on Tuesday said the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
Wilson praised the aircrew for their attempts to land while the back-seat airman was sitting on a seat that could still blow with just one bit of turbulence from the aircraft.
"The courage it took and the values represented by that aircraft commander who decided we're going to try for all of us to make it rather than sacrifice the one guy who can't get out. Those are the men and women who choose to wear the uniform of the U.S. Air Force," Wilson said.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/19/secaf-reveals-details-b-1-flameout-bomber-stand-down-ends.html
tartare
19th Jun 2018, 23:33
Holy ****e - that sounds scary.
A crew member sitting next to others in a confined space on a live, triggered seat that hasn't fired.
I assume those seats are all manually operated by the individuals, or is there some sort of command initiated sequence that steps firing to ensure adequate separation of all crew?
Definitely a medal situation.
Stitchbitch
20th Jun 2018, 06:10
From what I’ve read, in a pre-meditated ejection they go in a pre determined sequence, rear seats first, manually operating the seat. If there’s no time the Captain does the honours.
US bombers take off again after safety alert
Sioux Falls The US air force says its B-1B heavy bombers will resume flight operations this week after an emergency landing by one of the aircraft in Texas on May 1. The fleet was grounded two weeks ago following a safety investigation that showed a problem with ejector seat components. The air force has 62 B-1Bs stationed at bases across the country. (AP)
tdracer
21st Jun 2018, 06:58
The air force has 62 B-1Bs stationed at bases across the country.
I thought they had 80 operational B1's - am I wrong or are the rest based outside the US?
“There are 62 remaining B-1 bombers, and like the B-2 they also require modernization. About six are undergoing programmed depot maintenance at any given time – long-term overhauls that take the aircraft offline. Another six or so are unavailable because of the Air Force’s upgrade program, where each of the now 30-year-old airframes will eventually get modern cockpit features to improve the B-1’s situational awareness, communications and network capabilities, Lawrence said.
The depot time means the Air Force on average has about 50 available B-1s. According to the fiscal year 2016 numbers, the latest statistics available, 51.6 percent of the available B-1s are mission capable. Those statistics align with what the B-1 fleet has experienced for the last several years”.......