US Navy pilot killed in A-29 crash.

[Airbubba]

An A-29 Super Tucano crashed today on the Holloman AFB Red Rio Bombing Range.

From The Drive:

The crash has resulted in the cancelation of the scheduled start to the next phase of the USAF's Light Attack Experiment (http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/21248/senators-want-millions-for-air-force-and-marine-light-attack-planes-in-new-budget) that was supposed to kick off later today at Holloman AFB.

The aircraft crash has canceled the scheduled U.S. Air Force’s Light Attack Experiment exercise in Alamogordo that was to begin around 3 p.m. Friday.



A-29 Super Tucano Crashed At White Sands Missile Range In New Mexico - The Drive (http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/21705/undisclosed-manned-aircraft-has-crashed-at-white-sands-missile-range-in-new-mexico)

From Holloman's Facebook page:

An A-29 Super Tucano crashed over the Red Rio Bombing Range at approximately 11:30 a.m. MDT today during a training flight as part of the Air Force's Light Attack Experiment.

One aircrew member suffered minor injuries and was airlifted to a local hospital. More information on the second aircrew member will be released when it is available.

The crash is currently under investigation, and no cause has been determined at this time.

The Red Rio Bombing Range is part of the White Sands Missile Range, a U.S. Army instillation [sic] and the Department of Defense's larges, open air test range. Fire and police units from the White Sands Missile Range Directorate of Emergency Services initially responded to the report of the crash.

More information will be released when it is available.

The ground-based military exercise scheduled for this evening has been canceled.

The lack of information on the condition of the second crewmember may be ominous based on other recent mishaps. :rolleyes:

[ORAC]

Death of second crew member confirmed.

U.S. Navy Identifies Casualty (http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=106117)

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy announced June 23 the death of a Navy pilot who was involved in a mishap at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Lt. Christopher Carey Short, from Canandaigua, New York, died June 22 when the A-29 aircraft he was piloting crashed while on a mission over the Red Rio Bombing Range, part of White Sands Missile Range, north of Holloman.

The cause of the mishap is under investigation.

For more information about Short, contact Cmdr. Doug Gabos, Commander, Naval Air Forces Reserve public affairs officer at 757-322-5652 (tel:757-322-5652) or [email protected].

For any additional queries about the mishap, contact Lt. Col. Robert Carver, 49th Wing Public Affairs Office, Holloman Air Force Base at 575-635-7774 (tel:575-635-7774) or [email protected].

[Lima Juliet]

Oh no, how incredibly sad. RIP Lieutenant :(

[ICT_SLB]

It appears there has been a fatality during the United States Air Force's Light Attack Experiment.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/23/navy-pilot-dies-29-crash-white-sands-missile-range.html

[ORAC]

https://www.robins.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1764203/a-29-accident-report-released/

A-29 accident report released

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- An Air Force Materiel Command Accident Investigation Board has identified the cause of an A-29 Super Tucano crash which killed a U.S. Navy fighter pilot this past summer in New Mexico.

Navy Lt. Christopher Short, an experienced F/A-18 pilot, was piloting an A-29 operating from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, June 22, 2018 when it crashed shortly after delivering a GBU-12 (500-pound laser-guided bomb) on the Red Rio Bombing Range, part of the White Sands Missile Range. The only other crewmember, an Air Force weapon systems officer, successfully ejected with minor injuries.

The Accident Investigation Board President identified the cause of the mishap as over control of the aircraft, followed by a failure to apply adequate recovery control inputs. By turning too sharply at low airspeed after release of a practice bomb, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled spiral dive.

Additionally, the specific cause of the mishap pilot’s death was delayed ejection. After unsuccessful attempts to recover the aircraft, ejection was initiated below the recommended minimum altitude for uncontrolled flight, preventing the parachute from fully inflating.

The mission was a continuation training sortie in support of the Light Attack Experiment Phase II. The mishap aircraft took off with two GBU-12s, rockets, and .50 caliber ammunition. According to the executive summary, the mission proceeded uneventfully until the first weapon delivery, a GBU-12, released from the left outboard pylon. The mishap crew planned and attempted to execute a right 180-degree turn after releasing the weapon.

The AIB President also found by a preponderance of the evidence, that attempting the 180-degree turn maneuver, without compensating for asymmetry of weapon release at low airspeed, substantially contributed to the mishap.

The two-man crew were among 17 aircrew members from multiple services and commands selected to participate in the Light Attack Experiment Phase II, a capability assessment of two non-developmental light attack platforms, the AT-6 and A-29.

Brig. Gen. Kenneth Bibb, Jr. served as the Accident Investigation Board President. The primary purpose of the board was to investigate the cause and contributing factors of the mishap and provide a publicly releasable report of the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident.

The AIB report is available at https://www.afjag.af.mil/AIB-Reports/.

[weemonkey]

Very sad read.

Hopefully this program will be seen as the technical folly it is.

[Two's in]

Whereas the report clearly states the mechanics behind the accident - out of target parameters, incorrectly flown recovery manoevre, overcontrolling and ultimately, descending below the deck height before attempting to eject - it skips over the poor supervision and training involved in the trial itself. The pilot had just over 1,000 hours F-18 but only 11 hours in the Tucano. This was his first solo (unsupervised) weapons release on type. Unless I'm missing it, he was a squadron pilot with no prior experience on weapons trials or release. If I was on that inquiry, I would want to understand the selection, training, currency requirements and overall supervision structure for climbing in to a dissimilar type and trialing weapons release. It's always the pilot who gets you to the accident, but he seems to have had some organizational assistance along the way that isn't obviously called out in the report.

[Just This Once...]

Indeed, the evidence in the report hardly supports the conclusion. First trip for the guy in the front as PIC and having only logged 7 trips in the Super Tucano. So for his first crew solo he prepares and briefs with no supervision, crewed with a WSO who has only logged 5 hrs strapped to an ejection seat in his life and they get tasked to go off and fly a complex range sortie with heavy stores, EO asymmetric weapon drops and then some strafe!

If you think about the poor USAF guy in the back - a guy not familiar with dynamic aircraft or the encumbrance of a g-suit, helmet, mask et al and finds himself trying to log his 6th hour in the aircraft, head-down working an EO sensor, comms and GBU drop with a raw USN F/A-18 pilot in front on his first unsupervised sortie. He feels the aircraft depart controlled flight, looks up, is completely disorientated and finds himself looking at an unfamiliar cockpit and rapidly changing picture with a task-saturated pilot and no relevant training or experience to fall back on. I am amazed that he got out before impact and absolutely staggered that he and his pilot was there in the first place.

The Light Attack 'Experiment' seems to be with the aircrew rather than the aircraft or systems. The question seems to be 'can we grab random aircrew from any service, give them single-digit training hours on an unfamiliar aircraft type and send them off on a complex weapons profile'. The unsurprising answer is no, but the report manages to put all the blame on the crew.

The USAF really does suck at aircraft accident investigations.

[LOMCEVAK]

A pilot whose weapon delivery background was totally on an aircraft with a highly augmented flight control system plans to fly an aircraft with a reversible (manual) flight control system and to drop a single bomb from an outboard pylon in a dive attack followed by a manoeuvring recovery when, as I read the report, he had never really explored lateral asymmetric store handling. And there was not a system in place to identify such a gross threat.

Having been involved in lateral asymmetric stores releases plus assessment of stores hang-ups during multiple store releases from the wing, they were in a flight regime that is very critical in many aircraft. I remember advising a 'thumbs down' to a trial involving a similar profile in a similar aircraft type a couple of decades ago.

No-one appeared to be able to apply any judgement to this plan. The crew have my sympathy; they should never have been put in this situation.

[SASless]

The USAF really does suck at aircraft accident investigations.


Quite wrong dear boy.....the Zero's took no hits....as usual!

So long as the dead Pilot carries the bucket and the Management escapes attention.....then the results of the Investigation are Golden!

[Just This Once...]

Duly noted!