Forum: F-16 News

Deseret News wrote:

Report blames fatal crash of F-16 in June on pilot error
By Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 10:36 p.m. MDT

"Pull up, pull up, pull up, pull up," came the order.

It never happened.

On June 22, Hill Air Force Base F-16 pilot Capt. George Bryan Houghton was killed when his plane crashed at the Utah Test and Training Range, about 35 miles south of Wendover.

The U.S. Air Force's accident investigation board report released Monday states that Houghton's failure to recognize his altitude during a nighttime, low-altitude, high-angle strafing training caused the crash. (The full report in PDF format can be found at the following link.)

The $21.3 million aircraft, assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing, was destroyed; no other personal property was damaged.

Houghton had been on a night training mission in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan. His unit is now there without him.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Houghton family," said Col. Scott Zobrist, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing. "Captain G.B. 'Ice' Houghton was an exceptional pilot, devoted patriot, superb officer, loving husband and dedicated family man. He was a true warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice. His Air Force family misses him dearly."

Houghton was part of a four-ship formation training in close-air support by strafing — using the plane's cannons to shoot at targets on the ground.

Houghton's plane crashed at 10:27 p.m., just seconds after the order to pull up was given. Fellow pilots reported the crash to commanders, who sent a recovery team to the area.

The fighter wing's planes were also grounded the following day.

According to the accident investigation board report, Houghton was likely focused on visually positioning himself for an attack and was unaware of his low altitude.

There was no evidence Houghton attempted to recover from the diving approach on the target or that he attempted to eject, according to the report.

It was Houghton's first operational assignment in the F-16, in which he had 155.6 hours of flying time. Before flying the F-16, he had been a T-6 instructor pilot with more than 1,400 flying hours.

Despite his relative inexperience in the F-16, the report states that Houghton was qualified for the mission and had a "reputation in the squadron as an extremely motivated, disciplined, hard-working and professional officer … who seized every possible opportunity to improve his knowledge and skills."

The board report states that Houghton, who was using night-vision goggles, didn't recognize his altitude, scan his instruments or perceive the terrain, likely because he was focused on his simulated attack. The illumination in the area could have been so low that it was difficult to distinguish terrain features with night vision goggles, which restrict a pilot's field of view from 180 degrees to 40 degrees.

The plane's fight data recorder and signal acquisition unit were never recovered.

Before Houghton's crash, the most recent crash of an F-16 in Utah was March 30, 2006, when Lt. Jay Baer, of the 388th Fighter Wing's 421st Fighter Squadron, safely ejected before his plane crashed near Carrington Island in the Great Salt Lake. Baer suffered bumps and bruises, and his plane was destroyed on impact.

A failed bearing assembly was later blamed for the malfunction that brought Baer's plane down.

source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... error.html

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Yea, I saw this today also, I was going to post it but thought, you will beat me too it anyway (as you did) Smile

Having stated that, I find it hard to believe it was pilot error (I guess it is possible, the explanation given was plausable). I often wonder if sometimes, the event is pushed that way for what ever politcial reason. If it really was pilot error and the reports I saw indicated he had about 1500 plus hours as a pilot collectively in various other weapons system, makes me wonder if the F-16 let him down and not his own skills.

We will never know but have to take the report at face value I guess - sad, he seemed like he had a real promising career in aviation.

Another site reports (almost the same information)..

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Houghton family. Captain G.B. ‘Ice’ Houghton was an exceptional pilot, devoted patriot, superb officer, loving husband, and dedicated family man. He was a true warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice. His Air Force family misses him dearly,” said Col. Scott Zobrist, 388th Fighter Wing commander.

On the night of the crash, Houghton was preparing for an upcoming deployment and was attempting a “simulated night high-angle strafe” with the aid of night goggles, according to the Investigation Board report.

According to the report, Houghton was likely focused on visually positioning himself for an attack and was unaware of his low altitude. Darkness and lack of contrast made it difficult for him to distinguish the surrounding terrain and recognize his proximity to the ground.

“(Houghton’s) mental expectation of his aircraft parameters was distinctly different from reality, making it difficult to mentally process data appearing contrary to what he was expecting,” the 36-page report states.

Houghton had a total of 1,572 flying hours, but was considered inexperienced in the F-16, according to the report, with only 156 hours in the jet. He was on his first operational F-16 assignment.

“Despite the fact that (Houghton) was current, qualified, and appropriately supervised, he had limited experience in this type of event,” the report states.

There was no evidence that Houghton attempted to recover from the diving approach on the target or that he attempted to eject.

“The mishap pilot did not initiate a recovery nor attempt ejection and was fatally injured upon impact,” the report states.

At the time of impact, Houghton’s jet carried three training missiles, two weapons pylons, a Sniper targeting pod, and an estimated 5,500 pounds of fuel in two external fuel tanks.

Weather reports indicated clear skies with 10 miles of visibility during Houghton’s mission.

1500 hours is not a lot of flying time.

OL

Really?

I thought it would be more than enough to have him fully understand situation awareness and his own flying enviroment but you might be right.

Now his limited 156 hours in the Viper, that is limited, short time (no doubt) but I feel collectively those combined hours should have been better preparred him for this event but we will never know, he sadly takes that to the grave with him - damn shame though, damn shame - A loss of us all in any event

I certainly don’t mean to say this is not a tragedy. I was very relieved when my son passed 1500 hours.

But classically, there are two points where a fighter pilot is most dangerous to him/her self.

One at 500 hours, where you know you don’t know everything. But very much want to be competitive with those who “do".

And one at 1500 hours, where you feel very comfortable.

This is very sad for whatever reason, don’t get me wrong.

It’s interesting that the minimum requirement for an Airline Transport Pilot certificate is 1500 hours.

I don’t travel by air that much anymore.

OL

Thanks for your thoughts on this sad situation, I see your point and understand it,

I have to say, I suffered that sense of "comfort myself" on a few occassions, once when I was on flying status with F4's, but I felt it at 100 hours of cockpit and system time (that never should have happened, I had no real problems develop) but I think I was just too 'cocky" and felt I could handle any problem with my system inflight.

Then again when I became a pilot ferrying aircraft, got that sense of "I can handle it", I had an event that sure got my attention and I never stopped double checking myself after that so...I hear you and should have remembered those simple judgement issues myself.

I no longer pilot aircraft of any kind but I sure do miss it but you bring up a damn good point, seems my memory is back in the "chocks" -

Thanks for the reminder

] Yea, I saw this today also, I was going to post it but thought, you will beat me too it anyway (as you did)

Actually, IMO, I was on first. 8D
When I saw that yesterday, I posted its link in this thread and beated the mods to it, but the mods deleted my post, eh, I mean, harmonised my post, and posted a new news article about it.
They are the mods, this is their site, so I'm, eh, harmonised, and don't complain about it. XD

(Possible) Lessons learned from Capt. Bryan Houghton's crash
Auto-GCAS technology lives for F-22, F-16 and F-35- Stephen Trimble

Capt. George Bryan Houghton, a US Air Force F-16 pilot, died on June 22 because he lost track of his altitude. He was practicing high-angle-strafing at night using night vision goggles. Houghton had only recently graduated to such operations in the F-16. If he realized that he began his dive toward the target 2,000ft below the minimum safe altitude, his actions didn't show it. A laser spot illuminating the target consumed Houghton's focus. He didn't respond to alerts from three different cockpit instruments and a ground controller -- all telling him to "pull up".

The accident investigation report released on Monday concluded that Houghton made no attempt to eject or pull up before crashing. His F-16 struck ground 50ft in front of his target, an angle suggesting Houghton believed it was still 1,000ft below.

I reported two months ago that the US Air Force had decided against funding a readily available technology that could prevent such an accident. I based my reporting on an official response to my question by Air Combat Command. I have recently learned that the ACC's response was wrong. The organization, in fact, has decided to upgrade the F-16, F-22 and F-35 -- all Lockheed Martin-designed, fly-by-wire fighters -- with the auto-ground collision avoidance system (Auto-GCAS).

The USAF and NASA first demonstrated Auto-GCAS in 1998. At that time, the Skunk Works-built software system had a few bugs, but still proved the idea was feasible, says Mark "Tex" Wilkins, a senior aviation safety analyst for the defense safety oversight council.

Auto-GCAS track's the aircraft's position, speed and altitude against a digital terrain map of the Earth. It intervenes when the pilot becomes disoriented, or suffers a G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC). If the system calculates the aircraft is within 1.5sec of approaching a point of no return, it takes control and levels the aircraft.
Wilkins says that analysis shows Auto-GCAS would have prevented 16 fighter crashes since 2000, when the system was originally declared a "mature" technology by the Air Force Research Laboratory. It would have saved Houghton life's, as well as the life of David Cooley, a Lockheed Martin F-22 test pilot. Cooley lost focus four 4sec during a high-speed manoeuvre, but regained control only to find himself in an unrecoverable position -- nose-low at Mach 1.6 and diving through 14,000ft.

The USAF will start equipping F-16s with Auto-GCAS in the 6.2 block of the operational fight program, which is scheduled to deploy after 2012. The system is also now part of the 3.2 software block for the F-22 operational flight program, now deploying in 2016, Wilkins says.

See http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/

At least the F-16 Falcon,F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II are scheduled for this upgrade as it stands right now.

http://www.standard.net/topics/hilltop- ... mond-rough

"A diamond in the rough"

Last Edit: 1 day 9 hours ago (Nov 25 2009 - 7:10am)
By Senior Master Sgt. Robert Block (388th Maintenance Group)

They say the way to a woman's heart is with diamonds. If you count the search for a missing memento against impossible odds as another, some 388th Fighter Wing personnel and assorted volunteers found a way to do just that in order to ease the ache in the heart of an Air Force spouse.

Capt. George "Ice" Houghton was killed when his F-16 Fighting Falcon went down at a site south of Wendover in a remote area of the Utah Test and Training Range commonly known as Baker Strong Point. The resulting wreckage spread over the area for at least a mile. Although pilots cannot wear their wedding rings while flying jets, they often carry them in a pocket of their flight suit or somewhere on their person.

Wow, that is moving story

Thanks a lot for that post, Gamera. Salute

] Thanks a lot for that post, Gamera.

No problemo, dude.
Contrary to popular misbelief, I'm not always an Assh_le On-Line.

] Wow, that is moving story

Amen.

http://www.standard.net/topics/hilltop- ... viduals-09

"People, 2009: A look back -- Some of Hill's most fascinating individuals in '09"

Last Edit: 4 min 38 sec ago (Dec 31 2009 - 9:19am)

Ungerman enlisted the help of many volunteers from various organizations throughout the 388th Fighter Wing, along with a team of a metal detectors from the Trails West Artifacts Society. Ungerman was informed by Paul Nelson, 75th Air Base Wing Plans and Programs, that this metal detector club assisted with a wedding ring search about 10 years ago at another F-16 fatal crash site.

("This metal detector club assisted with a wedding ring search about 10 years ago at another F-16 fatal crash site."

I wonder: which one?)

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... e0214.html

"New wings for the pilot's wife"

February 14, 2010 |
Valley & State
by By E. J. Montini, Republic Columnist - Feb. 14, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The pilot's wife could not sleep. She was in bed reading at 2 a.m. when the doorbell rang. And she knew.

Forum: F-16 News

F-16 crashes on the Utah Training Range