Forum: Mishaps

B-2 pilot in Guam crash is transferred to Hawaii Army hospital
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, February 27, 2008

One of the pilots aboard the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber that crashed Saturday at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, has been transferred to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, where he remains in stable condition, military officials said Monday.

The pilot is being treated for a spinal-compression injury, which is not life-threatening, said U.S. Pacific Air Forces spokesman Tech. Sgt. Thomas Czerwinski.

The other pilot involved in the crash was medically evaluated and released Saturday.

Both pilots are from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

The B-2 plunged to the ground shortly after takeoff Saturday at Andersen. Both pilots ejected before the bomber crashed on the runway.

Czerwinski said no official cause for the crash has been determined. A safety investigation board of officers has 30 days to release an initial report, he said.

The B-2 was leaving to return to Whiteman after a four-month deployment to Andersen. Three other B-2s that were part of the same deployment remain at Andersen.

“They’re not grounding the fleet,” he said. But any time there’s an accident involving Air Force aircraft, “there’s an automatic safety stand-down,” he said.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?sect ... icle=52841

First response team provide care for ejected pilots
by Airman 1st Class Erica Stewart
36th Operations Group Public Affairs

2/28/2008 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- The ambulance services unit of 36th Medical Group here quickly responded to an emergency call on Feb. 24 requesting emergency medical services immediately to Andersen's flight line.

Two pilots, deployed from Whiteman AFB, Mo., were forced to eject from a B-2 Spirit before impact during their last flight from the flight line.

"This is the kind of situation that we train for," said Lt. Col. Robin Schultze, 36th Medical Operations Squadron commander and chief nurse. "Based on how our emergency medical technicians responded when the B-2 stealth bomber crashed, I am confident that our training kept our EMTs (Emergency Medical Team) safe and minimized injury to the pilots and other emergency crews."

Not only do EMTs receive continuous on the job training, but they are also engaged in a variety of exercises and sent to the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness skills at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.

"We send our medics to C-STARS to hone skills," said Colonel Shultze. "This is a shock and trauma unit training that the medics have as part of continuous education."

Mass causality training also plays a role in making emergency procedures rote in real world situations.

"Annual, mass casualty exercises gives us the opportunity to practice for real-world situations, like the B-2 crash," Colonel Shultze said. "So that when an emergency call comes in the medics can be confident with their skills."

When the EMT on-duty received the call, she and the other three member crew hopped into an ambulance and headed to the flight line.

"When we got there, all we saw was smoldering flames and a pilot lying on the ground," said Staff Sgt. Katherine Caraballo, 36th Medical Wing Group, emergency medical technician. "My first thought was to take the hazards into consideration, get clearance to enter the scene to stabilize the immobile pilot."

EMTs are taught to recognize danger before entering the scene of an accident to better treat the victim.

"One of our main goals on any incident is to stay away from danger and to approach the scene with our well-being in mind," said Tech. Sgt. Melissa Lehan, 36th Medical Group, non-commissioned officer in charge of ambulance services. "If the medics are injured, then the patients don't get the care they need."

In this crisis situation, the danger was anticipated and the medic's training prevailed.

"Training is essential for things like this and we train continuously," Sergeant Lehan said. "A big incident like this is something that doesn't happen all the time, and could be something that you'll see once in your career, so being prepared to handle anything and everything is important."

Source: http://www.13af.pacaf.af.mil/news/story ... =123088053

Back to B-2 names, I thought it was cool, being a Floridian, that the first B-2 I had the opportunity to see was "Spirit of Florida",

Fire on takeoff - could have blown an engine or thrown a fan blade through a fuel cell - just a tinfoil hat guess.

Modification Title and No: ENGINE FAN BLADES SAFETY MOD MN-8880 CLC: B-2 Class P-S
Models of Aircraft Affected: B-2 Center: ASC - Wright Patterson AFB, OH PE 0101127F Team POWER
Description/Justification
HQ USAF/SE has designated the stage 1 fan blade as a safety modification. Incorporates a stage 1 fan blade redesign. The stage 1 fan blades exhibit high levels of stress due to the inlet distortion.
Combine a Foreign Object Damage (FOD) event with the elevated inlet distortion stress and the combination could result in the loss of an airfoil and a catastrophic in-flight emergency. The potential
also exists for a Class A event as a result of an uncontained titanium fire initiated by the airfoil release. The current set of fan blades (24) is replaced with a new blade set incorporating airfoil
changes to address FOD resistance and aircraft inlet distortion induced stress. The blade set can be replaced at the base level and depot. 120 engines and 6 fan sections to be modified.
Aircraft Breakdown: Active 21, Reserve 0, ANG 0, Total 21