Greek F-16 crash Albacete, Spain

[lohar]

Here the mishap F-16 pilots. RIP

assets_LARGE_t_420_54457510_type12128.jpg (20.05 KiB) Viewed 8894 times

[Bjorn]

Pilots are Captain Panagiotis Lascaris and Flight Lieutenant Athanasios Zagas.

But who is who? Then we can post the in memoriam.

Greets,

[lohar]

Both were captains. Laskaris the left one and Zagas the right one.

[Gamera]

Greek fighter jet crash 'due to takeoff fault' 29 Jan 2015

A Greek fighter jet that crashed on Monday at a Nato base in Spain had suffered a technical fault during takeoff, the French military says.

"What we know is that the crew of the F-16, quite quickly after takeoff, tried to eject, which confirms the technical failure," French Air Force chief of staff Gen Denis Mercier said.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31035654

[Patriot]

In case you miss it that's how it happened:

After rotation, at about 35ft-40ft above ground, probably at the moment they initiated gear up, the a/c banked -suddenly- >90deg to the right. The right wing scratched the ground. At this moment they ejected. Due to the angle of the mishap a/c, one pilot hit a shelter and the other hit the ground directly. The mishap a/c continued -with full AB- straight to the NATO ramp.

So: I doesn't looks like engine problems at all. It might be a pilot input, FLCS fault or something wrong with hydraulics actuators...

[JoeSambor]

How about we all stop guessing with zero knowledge of the actual incident and wait for the official report to come out? It discredits the pilots and maintainers to speculate about the cause of this horrible mishap without any information at all.

Best Regards,

[sulfer732]

How about we all stop guessing with zero knowledge of the actual incident and wait for the official report to come out? It discredits the pilots and maintainers to speculate about the cause of this horrible mishap without any information at all.

Glad you said it, Sir!

[glendora]

French Ministry of Defence released the Safety Investigation Report for this accident.

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/base-de-medi ... HautDePage

Before taxi, both yaw and roll trim settings were inadvertently modified. Roll trim was set slightly to the right (inconsistent with the configuration) and yaw trim was set rapidly to the maximum right position (-12º) and remained in that position throughout the remainder of the Mishap Aircraft’s operation.
Following Safety Investigation Board findings, the unintended trim knob movements were most likely caused by an object moving between a trim knob safety guard and the yaw trim knob (on the Manual Trim Panel), such as a TLP checklist.

The main causes of the accident were:
-The MA was not properly trimmed for takeoff. Before taxi, the yaw trim was inadvertently set to maximum right deflection (12o right), drastically affecting the aerodynamics of the aircraft during takeoff.

-The PIC accomplished the “Before Takeoff” checklist actions while at parking area (ramp E2) approximately 20 minutes before takeoff.

Contributing factors to the accident:
- The Manual Trim Panel design does not prevent all inadvertent movement nor does the A/C have a method/system of notifying the pilot if the A/C is mistrimmed prior to takeoff.
-The coexistence of a number of critical factors led the accident to a fatal level. The factors mentioned above are: heavy gross weight, asymmetry configuration, two seat model, external fuel tanks (mainly centerline) and cross wind.
- The fact that this unintended rotation of the yaw trim knob is uncommon, especially of this severity, did not lead HAF flight training and Flight Safety structures to deal with this issue at an appropriate level. This is reinforced by the fact that there are no related emergency procedures and no previous recorded incidents of this type in the HAF.
- Loose objects in the cockpit, such as checklists not properly stowed, could cause the inadvertent movement of the yaw trim knob.
-The “End of Runway Inspection” was performed at ramp E2 instead of a location near the end of the runway. This procedural change left an open window for the PIC to deviate from standard procedures.