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U2 down in Northern California
U2 out of Beale is down near the Sutter Buttes. Reports are the two pilots ejected prior to the crash.
U-2 plane crashes in Sutter Buttes; 2 pilots eject | Sacramento News - KCRA Home |
U-2 down
Gents
Reported today. U-2 plane crashes in Sutter Buttes; 2 pilots eject | Sacramento News - KCRA Home |
Sounds like some notifications are being made, I think the news is bad on one of the pilots. :(
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Does anyone know what the 3rd parachute is for? "Equipment" can mean a lot of things. If it's something top secret, I'm not sure I'd want it dangling from a canopy for all to see the landing location.
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Video showing the plane in a spin going down and two parachutes:
Harrowing witness video shows U-2 spy plane crash in Sutter Buttes | News - KCRA Home The other objects visible in the sky look to me like the gibbous moon and a smoke cloud from the ejection. |
core dump: does anyone know what the 3rd parachute is for? "Equipment" can mean a lot of things. If it's something top secret, I'm not sure I'd want it dangling from a canopy for all to see the landing location All the best to those and the families involved. |
From social media:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cs0WoiXUAAAynMq.jpg:small USAF Air Combat Command has retracted an earlier statement that both pilots ejected safely. :uhoh: |
An update with some sad news from the LA Times:
One pilot dead, a second injured in U-2 spy plane crash in rural Northern California By Veronica Rocha September 20, 2016, 12:55PM One pilot was killed and another was injured when a U-2 spy plane crashed in a Northern California shortly after takeoff Tuesday morning, according to a U.S. Air Force official. The pilots ejected shortly after takeoff from Beale Air Force Base and moments before the aircraft crashed into a rural area north of Sacramento, according to the Air Force. Initially, the Air Force reported the crew members had “safely ejected” and were awaiting recovery. Almost four hours after the crash however, air combat command tweeted “there is no official confirmation of status of U-2 pilots.” Shortly before 1 p.m., Sgt. Charity Barrett of Beale Air Force Base confirmed the pilot’s death. The extent of injuries suffered by the second pilot was unclear. The crash occurred around 9 a.m., and the pilots were participating in a training mission, according to the Air Force. |
How can aircrew who satisfactorily eject from a training aircraft sustain life-threatening (and fatal) injuries?
I thought that current ejections were capable of zero altitude? AFAIK, the U2 isn't a 'fast' aircraft. |
I believe this is the first ejection from a two-seat U-2.
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RIP, they do a job that's not often spoken about in a very difficult aircraft to fly.
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An overview of the U-2 ejection system from a Flying magazine article:
The U-2's ejection system is not as automated or advanced as those used in most fighter jets. Whatever direction you're pointed in when you eject is where you're going to go. And since you're wearing 130 pounds of extra equipment, the rocket that propels you there is bigger than normal, generating a force of 11 to 20 Gs. The parachute is bigger as well, with a bulb-like shape. Oh, yeah. And since the U-2 is a manual airplane, don't expect the pilot to hit that ejection button for you. You're on your own -- which is why the Air Force goes to all this trouble to train you in getting yourself out of the plane in an emergency. We progress to an egress simulator, where I don a harness and helmet and learn how I can get myself out of the airplane, space suit and all, in case we end up on the ground but away from Beale. There are a couple of "automated" handles that disconnect me from all my various safety and life support equipment. But if they fail, I have to know how to manually disconnect myself from 10 different systems and restraining devices. Hartzler closes the canopy and tilts the plane 45 degrees on its side. U-2 pilots have to get themselves disentangled from the plane in less than 60 seconds. Seconds and then minutes tick by as I struggle to release air hoses, latches and safety cables. I'm successful, but I conclude that if the airplane really crash lands and catches fire, I'm probably going to burn up with it. Hartlzer assures me that adrenaline will kick in and improve my time dramatically. In the afternoon, I move on to Sr. Airman Shawn O'Day for parachute and survival training. If I have to eject from the U-2, I will stay attached to the seat until 15,000 feet. At that point, the seat will separate, and the work begins. I learn how to deal with fouled lines, a partially inflated canopy, an inverted lobe, and holes in the canopy fabric. O'Day stresses that I can only cut away a total of six tangled lines. I dutifully note the restrictions, even as a piece of my brain decides that if I find myself putting this plan into action, the "six line" restriction is going to be the least of my problems. I learn how I must then gain canopy control and steer the chute toward an appropriate landing site, into the wind and away from obstacles and trees. All that while opening my visor, closing my UCD valve, separating my communication cord, disconnecting my suit vent hose, removing my boot spur cables, and releasing my seat kit from my backside. Piece of cake. We practice the last bit of the descent and how to land properly, with feet and legs together and a rolling fall to the downwind side. O'Day then puts me in a harness and has me practice getting myself out of a 150-foot-tall tree with a PLD (Personnel Lowering Device), in case I don't quite manage to successfully implement the "land away from obstacles and trees" instruction. |
Sounds tricky.
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Video of the aircraft going down. Seems two good chutes but being reported one fatality.
Harrowing witness video shows U-2 spy plane crash in Sutter Buttes | News - KCRA Home |
Looks like the tail number of the accident aircraft was 80-1068:
80-1068 art.#068 Delivered as TR-1A, July 1982 First aircraft delivered to 17 RW, Feb 1983 Transferred to 9 SRW, April 1987 Flew last combat "R" sortie in support of Operation Deliberate Guard on Feb 21, 1997 from Istreas AB, France, piloted by Major Domenick Eanniello I believe the latest designation of the plane is a TU-2S. The fire crews on site at Sutter Buttes were told over the radio not to approach the wreckage due to the danger of a hydrogen [sic] leak. Reminds me of the SR-71 crash 50 years ago where Lockheed test pilot Bill Weaver famously advised a rancher in a helicopter, Albert Mitchell, Jr., to stay away from the wreck because there was a nuke weapon onboard. :eek: |
stay away from the wreck because there was a nuke weapon onboard |
Megan.
I was told one amusing aside to that tale. Collins allegedly "phoned in" and knowing that he was within earshot of his erstwhile rescuers thus dutifully delivered the agreed "F- 105" cover story procedure for such an event. Apparently the call recipient hadn't been briefed in on all this, so the resultant conversation can be imagined. |
Hi Haraka, Collins does not mention that in his account. The lads dropped him at the Highway Patrol Office, from where he made his "secret phone call", as he put it. In any event, a Connie arrived within two hours with security and engineers, followed closely by Kelly in his jet. He was even given sodium pentothol in the debrief in order to confirm his statements. An interesting story of how he ended up in an flat inverted spin.
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Airbubba I think that hydrazyn instead of hydrogen can be found on fighter crash site in case of leak of batteries (need to wear specific protections ,clothes and masks) this was valid during the 1980's ,I don't know now.
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Airbubba:Looks like the tail number of the accident aircraft was 80-1068 Bubba, what believes you to think it was 068? Curious as I was trying to figure that out as well. I thought 068 was a single seater. Was she later converted? Other twin seaters (some converted) seem to include 064, 065, 078, 091. U-2 designations can be tricky, with numerous changes over the years. Again, my thoughts for the family involved. |
Originally Posted by megan
(Post 9514726)
Was not Bill Weaver, but Ken Collins in the first A-12 to be lost. He was picked up by three lads in a pickup truck and given a lift, and they had his cockpit canopy in the back. He told them that it was an F-105, and is still listed in official reports as such, with a nuke on board.
From a Salt Lake Tribune article about the A-12 crash: Nuclear cover story After floating down for what seemed like hours, Collins hit ground and rolled on a sagebrush-covered hillside. As he gathered up his chute, he saw a pickup truck heading toward him from nearby U.S. 93. Three samaritans had the A-12's canopy in the truck's bed and offered to give Collins a ride to the crashed top-secret plane a few miles away. The CIA provided Collins a cover story for just this eventuality. "It's an F-105," he lied. "And it's got a nuclear weapon on board." The startled driver looked at Collins and said, "Get in, if you want to be gone." Collins laughs at the memory. "They weren't interested in seeing my plane anymore. But if it had a nuclear weapon, driving 10 miles away wasn't going to make much difference."
Originally Posted by BBH
(Post 9514809)
Airbubba I think that hydrazyn instead of hydrogen can be found on fighter crash site in case of leak of batteries (need to wear specific protections ,clothes and masks) this was valid during the 1980's ,I don't know now.
I have a friend who commanded an F-16 squadron in the 1980's. There is a backup power source called an EPU in the plane that runs off hydrazine from a tank in the right strake. Back in the '80's, there were strict orders not to say anything on the radio about the dangers of the hydrazine from an unscheduled landing or mishap lest the media and Environmental Protection Agency go ballistic.
Originally Posted by sandiego89
(Post 9515106)
Bubba, what believes you to think it was 068? Curious as I was trying to figure that out as well.
I thought 068 was a single seater. Was she later converted? 068 was indeed a conversion, it's made appearances as a two-seater at airshows in recent years, for example: https://www.flickr.com/photos/28042007@N07/3323874552 |
Thanks for the tail # info Airbubba. Some web sources differ on the converted ones- real alphabet soup with the U-2
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Originally Posted by sandiego89
(Post 9515375)
Thanks for the tail # info Airbubba. Some web sources differ on the converted ones- real alphabet soup with the U-2
U-2S/TU-2S > U.S. Air Force > Fact Sheet Display Here's a couple more sources listing the accident aircraft as 80-1068: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=190267 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q0T2LjJEvg |
hydrazyn instead of hydrogen can be found on fighter crash site in case of leak of batteries |
From the latest 9RW Press Conference 21 Sep 1600 PST.
U-2 flights from Beale AFB suspended indefinitely. |
The deceased pilot has now been named as Lt Col Ira S Eadie assigned to 1RS. RIP.
https://twitter.com/9thRW/status/778760405451583488 The other pilot sustained non-life threatening injuries and is in good condition at a local medical facility. https://twitter.com/9thRW/status/778761492887769093 |
Originally Posted by RAFEngO74to09
(Post 9515790)
From the latest 9RW Press Conference 21 Sep 1600 PST.
U-2 flights from Beale AFB suspended indefinitely. And, perhaps inevitably, the fatal crash adds to the call for unmanned (I'm sure a more politically correct term will be soon coined) aircraft to take over the surveillance and reconnaissance missions. From the LA Times: U-2 crash shows why some want drones to replace spy planes By Samantha Masunaga The crash of a U-2 spy plane that killed one pilot and injured another during a Tuesday training mission could bolster arguments in favor of unmanned systems, as the long battle against the decades-old plane’s retirement winds closer to an end. Rest in Eternal Peace Lieutenant Colonel Ira 'Steve' Eadie. :( Beale suspends all U-2 recon flights after deadly crash 1 killed, 1 injured in Tuesday's crash in Sutter Buttes UPDATED 5:54 PM PDT Sep 21, 2016 BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (KCRA) —Officials identified the Beale Air Force Base pilot killed a U-2 plane crash Tuesday morning. Lt. Col. Ira S. Eadie was with another pilot during a training mission near the Sutter Buttes when the plane crashed, the Air Force said Wednesday. The other pilot suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is in good condition, the Air Force said. The pilot's identity has not been released. The U-2 Dragon Lady crashed Tuesday morning in the Sutter Buttes shortly after takeoff from Beale Air Force Base, base officials said. The two pilots who were inside the training plane ejected from the aircraft, but one of the pilots died while the other was injured, Air Force officials said Tuesday. "The injured pilot was removed from the scene with a utility ground vehicle," 9th Mission Support Group commander Colonel Danielle Barnes said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Beale Air Force base is indefinitely suspending reconnaissance flights after a deadly U-2 plane crash, Barnes said. |
More on Lt. Col. Eadie:
Lake City pilot killed in California spy plane crash By News4Jax.com Staff Posted: 5:12 PM, September 21, 2016 Updated: 6:13 PM, September 21, 2016 LAKE CITY, Fla. - The pilot who died Tuesday after he ejected from a U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane just before it crashed into a mountain range in Northern California was a 20-year veteran who grew up in Lake City. According to his family, Lt. Col. Ira Stephen Eadie had been stationed in California for the past six years. Before joining the Air Force, he was in the Navy and flew P-3 patrol aircraft out of NAS Jacksonville. Eadie leaves behind a wife and six children, ranging in age from 6 to 25 years old. Eadie's father told News4Jax that the couple met in Lake City and they were excellent parents devoted to family. He asked the community for prayer. |
Posted by U-2 pilot, Spoo
http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps2cpineht.jpg
A true warrior. Never bitched (excessively), always worked hard, and made the brotherhood and the Air Force a better place. It was my honor, and many others, to serve with him. Artisits: Amn Pucci and Amn Leonard. Nice work boys, some of the best nose art I've seen. #flynavy |
Posted by U-2 pilot, Spoo Here's a bio of Lt. Col. Andy "Spoo" Clark: http://www.marshallcenter.org/mcpubl...-clark-en.html
Originally Posted by RAFEngO74to09
(Post 9515790)
From the latest 9RW Press Conference 21 Sep 1600 PST.
U-2 flights from Beale AFB suspended indefinitely. Flying operations worldwide for the U-2 Dragon Lady have not been impacted as a result of a recent crash here on September 20, 2016. The demand signal for the U-2 to continue supporting combatant commanders and meet national security objectives has not diminished. The aircraft continues to be flown by highly trained pilots globally. As a result of the crash, Beale put a hold on flying training missions locally in order to respond to the incident. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing intends to return to normal flying operations locally this week. "Our ability to fly missions in support of commanders has not been impacted by the recent crash. We continue to carry out our mission of providing high altitude ISR and delivering that decision advantage to combatant commanders," Broadwell said. |
Beale AFB Facebook:
"U-2 Dragon Lady relaunches at 9:01 this morning. Beale Air Force Base has returned to normal flying operations since Tuesday, where a two-seater U-2 crashed in the Sutter Buttes near the installation. The time of 9:01 a.m. was chosen specifically for the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, the unit which Lt. Col. Steve "Shooter" Eadie was assigned to. Today's launch signifies the resiliency of Team Beale and how we move forward." https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1498405963510216 |
It will be interesting to see why these guys had to abandon this aircraft.
Surprised to learn also, that the 'modern' U-2s egress equipment is somewhat of a compromise- although it was ever thus, from what I've read... |
AtomKraft
I'm no expert on the ejection seats in the U2 but I do know of other tandem seat aircraft that were fitted with ejection seats and where each crew member sat under their own canopy. In the days before command ejection and automatic sequencing it was not unknown for the rear seater to collect a face full of the front seaters canopy. In the F4 for example, the SOP was for the rear seater to go first in a premeditated ejection. That way he'd be gone before the front seat canopy jettisoned and there would be no risk of them colliding. In an unpremeditated ejection the pilot would just go leaving the WSO to follow as quickly as he could react. Pure speculation here, but with two good chutes observed the possibility must be that one of the crew, during the ejection sequence, struck either the other pilot's seat, or his canopy, resulting in fatal injuries. If so it is all very sad but it won't have been the first time it has happened.... MB |
Madbob
Yes, it's all very tragic. The U-2 has a long history of eventful abandonings. Right from the early FY56 aircraft, through to the present day. I guess in an aircraft where performance is not to be compromised, everything else has to be a little.... As usual, the report will tell all, but the a/c looked to be in one big chunk as it spun in, so there was clearly a very pressing, if not obvious reason for saying cheerio to it. I expect, given the types superlative gliding performance it wasn't EFATO, as their must have been a decent change of a forced landing (as has been done before- one U-2 even did its own unassisted forced landing!) or even a glide back to Beale. A damn shame, however you look at it.:sad: |
one U-2 even did its own unassisted forced landing |
Well, Megan.
It took off and the pilot had a catatonic seizure. Conked out. The a/c was a bit left wing low and in a shallow descent. They sent up another jet for a look see, but couldn't do anything that woke the pilot up. It continued as it was and looked set to hit still with the left wing down, which would no doubt have caused a cartwheel. Just before this happened, it flew through a set of power lines. Amazingly, this happened in such a way that the a/c was restored to wings level and it then flopped into a field with the engine still running. Fuel came out, but ran away downslope without catching fire. The arrival woke the pilot up and he decided to leave the scene. However, as he climbed out, he accidentally fired the ejection seat. He did a somersault and landed on the ground beside the plane. It chipped one of his teeth. As he stood there, presumably trying to gather his thoughts, his seat arrived beside him with a mighty thud- but without hitting him. The U-2C was recovered, and I believe it's the one preserved at Davis-Monthan AFB. Info by memory from Chris Pococks' book 'Dragon Lady'. edit to add, the one lost over Sverdlovsk on Mayday 1960 was also force landed previously somewhere in Japan. I think he was out of gas. It was rebuilt and went on to take its place in history as Frank Powers mount that day. Was article #360 I believe. |
Originally Posted by AtomKraft
(Post 9519785)
The U-2C was recovered, and I believe it's the one preserved at Davis-Monthan AFB.
http://www.skytamer.com/1.2/2011/20110529-151.jpg A blackbirds.net listing erroneously states: Capt. Roger Cooper and 6716 were undamaged in a deadstick landing on frozen lake at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada on 15 March 1960 However, these photos indicate that the Saskatchewan deadstick plane was 56-6717: U2 lands in Canada Any idea when or where the incapacitated pilot U-2 autoland occurred? Here is a claim that some early U-2 aircraft did not have the ejection seat installed for performance reasons: A side note is that some early (CIA mission) U-2 aircraft were not equipped with ejection seats. The seats for some missions were replaced with a tube frame and wicker seat. This was done to lower weight for greater altitude. Each pound saved would add a foot in altitude. |
The aircraft that landed itself was Article 381. 56-6714. It was mounted on a pole outside Wing HQ at Beale when I was there in 2005. (Written off after crash of 31 January 1980 (Captain Edward Beaumont survived)) --From p408, 50 Years of the U-2 by Chris Pocock
Ejection seats were first installed in the U-2s of both CIA and USAF via Service Bulletin 238 of 8 December 1957. The SB applied to all 41 then extant aircraft and added 52 pounds to the weight and balance. More than half of the 24 USSR missions had already been flown by this time (without ejection seats). |
Originally Posted by Kubarque
(Post 9520055)
The aircraft that landed itself was Article 381. 56-6714. It was mounted on a pole outside Wing HQ at Beale when I was there in 2005.
Here is the previously mentioned account in an excerpt from Chris Pocock's Dragon Lady: The History of the U-2 Spyplane (1989): Now, this is no s**t... ;) An even more remarkable incident occured on the last day of January 1981. Captain Edward Beaumont was in the early stages of check-out at Beale AFB, having made his first trip in the U-2CT only nine days earlier. This day, he was flying one of the last single-seat U-2C models remaining in Air Force service (they were finally retired a few months later). On a bright winter's day, he performed a number of touch-and-gos, and then climbed out for some work at medium altitude. After this, he reported descending through 14,000 feet. Some time later, his mobile control officer on the ground at Beale was surprised to hear Beaumont key the mike, but make no transmission. Instead, all that could be heard was a heavy breathing sound as the U-2 pilot's transmitter remained open, but silent. The tower was alerted, and a T-37 trainer that was also flying locally was instructed to rendezvous with the errant U-2 and attract Beaumont's attention. As the two pilots in the T-37 drew alongside, they could hardly believe their eyes. The U-2 pilot appeared to be slumped at the controls, with the aircraft in a gentle, turning descent. Beaumont had had a catatonic seizure, and was completely unconscious. With the accompanying pilots in the T-38 (sic) powerless to intervene, the U-2 floated slowly towards the Sierra foothills north of Oroville. As it neared the sloping ground, some high-voltage power transmission lines barred the way. The T-37 pilot braced themselves for a searing explosion as the black airframe flew into the 230,000-kilovolt wires. It never came. Incredibly, the U-2 clipped the bottom two wires with a wingtip, but failed to incinerate. In fact, the contact with the power lines had the effect of rolling the aircraft into the correct attitude for a forced landing in an adjacent cow pasture. Had its wingtip not been flipped up in this way, the aircraft would have cartwheeled as it impacted the gently sloping terrain with one wing low. As the astonished T-37 pilots orbited overhead, the U-2 flopped into the muddy field and ground to a halt with the engine running. Fuel began spilling from a ruptured tank, but it ran downhill and therefore failed to ignite. The sudden arrival on terra firma revived the stricken pilot. Although confused, he managed to shut the engine down. But the drama wasn't yet over. As the still-groggy Beaumont began to extricate himself from the aircraft, his foot slipped and caught in the D-ring of the ejection seat, which he had failed to make safe. It fired through the canopy, flinging the pilot upwards with it. Beaumont's body described a somersault, but he landed on his feet to one side of the aircraft, while the seat thudded into the ground nearby. His only injury was a chipped tooth! When the preliminary accident report was circulated, SAC generals and Lockheed managers alike thought that someone had made up the whole story as a joke. Not surprisingly, Beaumont was scrubbed from the U-2 programme on medical grounds. The U-2C which ended its flying days in a cow pasture, is now on display at Beale. met a U-2 pilot today - GT40s.com
Originally Posted by Kubarque
(Post 9520055)
Ejection seats were first installed in the U-2s of both CIA and USAF via Service Bulletin 238 of 8 December 1957. The SB applied to all 41 then extant aircraft and added 52 pounds to the weight and balance. More than half of the 24 USSR missions had already been flown by this time (without ejection seats).
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-f...1-Mar-1959.pdf |
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