Navy Concludes Experienced Pilot’s ‘Brief Lapse of Judgement’ Root Cause of ‘Star Wars’ Canyon Crash28 May 2020 Sam LaGrone"An experienced pilot’s split-second lapse in judgment is the likely cause of a 2019 F/A-18E Super Hornet crash in Death Valley National Park, Calif., the Navy concluded in a command investigation obtained by USNI News. Lt. Charles Walker, 33, was leading a two-fighter low-level training mission through the Rainbow Canyon in the park when his Super Hornet collided into the canyon wall.
Walker, who was posthumously promoted to lieutenant commander, was the training officer for the ”Vigilantes” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore; a Top Gun graduate; and the most experienced pilot in his squadron at flying low, according to report. Navy Times first reported on the results of the investigation.
Walker and his wingman had begun a training mission at NAS Lemoore that would have them take a well-known low-level flying route through the so-called “Star Wars” canyon in the national park. Pilots fly a complex route at high speeds below the lip of the canyon. Walker had flown a similar mission the day prior, according to the investigation. However, “on the date of the mishap, he was faster, lower, and accelerating while descending prior to his attempt to cross a ridgeline that was approximately 500 feet higher than the day prior,” reads the report.
Investigators reconstructed the flight path using his wingman’s flight data and GoPro video as well as bystander video. All flight data recorders on Walker’s aircraft were either completely destroyed or too badly damaged following the impact on the canyon wall. “The aircraft is believed to have entered a flight profile which was too fast and too low with respect to the surrounding terrain. The flight profile created conditions where the processing time and subsequent reaction time required of the pilot made it difficult for the aircraft to exit the canyon safely, as evidenced by the mishap result,” reads the report.
Based on the synthesized information, investigators concluded that Walker was likely attempting to make a turn to follow the route along the canyon, realized he would turn too wide and hit the canyon wall, and at the last moment tried to fly up and out of the canyon. Instead, the Super Hornet hit the side of the Rainbow Canyon at more than 600 miles per hour.
“Based on current information, we will never know what actually occurred,” reads the report. Walker’s wingman was three seconds behind him on the same route...." [more at the URL but of course similar to Navy Times first report above]
Map: https://news.usni.org/wp-content/upload ... .34-PM.pngAccident Report 73pp PDF: https://assets.documentcloud.org/docume ... JAGMAN.pdf (17Mb)
Source: https://news.usni.org/2020/05/28/navy-c ... nyon-crash