Airman Forgets to Lower Wheels, Crashes $136 Million U.K. Fighter Jet - With Video
A Royal Air Force top gun crash-landed a new $136.3 million Typhoon fighter — apparently after forgetting to put the wheels down during a training exercise in California.
The state-of-the-art jet was badly damaged as it skidded along a runway on its belly at 130 mph.
“Everything points to the pilot forgetting to lower the wheels, which does happen from time to time,” an RAF insider said.
Another possible cause of the accident is landing gear failure — but none of the other 48 Typhoons in service has been grounded with such a problem.
The top gun and his co-pilot from 17 Squadron climbed unhurt from the 1,500-mph jet. They were taking part in a major war games exercise at China Lake air base in California where aircraft can train with live weapons because of the remote location.
The mangled jet will be brought back to Britain to see if it can be repaired.
(Fox)
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How do you forget to do your job?
May 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pmCrazy Zoomies.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:52 pm“Everything points to the pilot forgetting to lower the wheels, which does happen from time to time,” an RAF insider said.
Not when you’re flying a plane worth 136 million it doesn’t. Or, at least it shouldn’t. An aircraft at that price should know to lower its own landing gear…..and serve up a beer after it rolls to a stop.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pmHey, co-pilot, does it seem like its taking a lot of power to taxi this thing?
May 1st, 2008 at 2:07 pmWell, in this case TWO people screwed up. The pilot, and his rear seat. When you lower the gear at 140 kts, you know it, which means you notice if you don’t hear it. The rear seat should double check stuff like that.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pmIt is called a before landing checklist. It’s not for bedtime reading. It is supposed to be used!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:19 pmI guess they need a few more “idiot lights” in those things.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:24 pmHEAD UP AND LOCKED.(THERE WILL BE AN ABBREVIATED AFTER LANDING CHECKLIST)
May 1st, 2008 at 2:25 pmHmmm, a friend of mine was in the Navy in the early 80’s.
Before he received his specialized training he was stationed at the Subic Bay Naval Air Station in the Philippines.
His job was “Wheel Watch”.
Essentially, he sat in a shack at the end of the runway with a pair of binoculars and checked every plane as it came in to confirm that the landing gear was in order.
He did this for a couple months before being sent to school.
He eventually became EOD.
I don’t know if the Navy still does this or not, with budget cuts and blah, blah….
You could pay a lot of green soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen for a long time before a slot opens up in their MOS training.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:26 pmFor a lot less than the cost of one OOPS.
MOST STATE OF THE ART AIR MACHINES HAVE A GEAR UNSAFE
May 1st, 2008 at 2:31 pmWARNING SYSTEM BASED ON FLAP/POWER/ALTITUDE CONFIGURATIONS, ETC.
THESE FAIL SAFES MUST HAVE FAILED.
If I was flying a jet that ugly, I’d crash it too.
Go Raptor!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
IP727(varón blanco típico)
May 1st, 2008 at 3:04 pmI’m not that familiar with current air craft but it seems that you must be right about this. If he had just come out of a very aggressive dogfight situation, he may have been completely “tunnelvisioned” too.
The article itself seems to imply that the gear may have failed (and with it, as ip727 noted, the failsafe warning). I find that a bit more plausible than a plane that seats two people and *both* forgot about extending the bloody landing gear.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pmI suppose the red light flashing in the gear handle was for decoration …
May 1st, 2008 at 5:48 pmGood thing the nose didn’t dig in. Jet fighter cartwheels are messy.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm