Fire damages F-35A

Eglin pilot earns prestigious safety award after aircraft malfunction
25 Sep 2015 Tech. Sgt. Meredith Mingledorff , Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

"WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III awarded a 58th Flying Training Squadron fighter jet pilot the Koren Kolligian Jr. trophy for flight safety in a ceremony at the Pentagon Sept. 23.

Capt. Timothy K. Killham, an F-35A Lightning II pilot, was given the award that recognizes outstanding feats of airmanship by an individual aircrew member, who by extraordinary skill, exceptional alertness, ingenuity, or proficiency, averted accidents or minimized the seriousness of the accidents in terms of injury, loss of life, aircraft or property damage.

Killham experienced engine malfunction on his jet during a takeoff June 23, 2014, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. With the aircraft engulfed in flames, he skillfully controlled the plane, aborted takeoff, and got himself to safety — a move that saved his life and the aircraft.

Air Force investigators later found the source of the fire and worked with the manufacturer to resolve the problem for future aircraft. This will save lives well into the future, allowing the Air Force to safeguard Airmen, prevent mishaps, and preserve combat readiness, said Maj. Gen. Andrew M. Mueller, Air Force chief of safety....

...“Training makes the difference between life and death in these situations,” Mueller said. “Habit patterns instilled through training, which starts on day one in the Air Force, and then the self-discipline to adhere to those habits under pressure, are what keeps the Air Force safe.”

Killham agreed and credited training and practice for his success.

“I had been taught and practiced the emergency procedures (abort and egress) for this event ever since pilot training,” he said. “When the fire happened, the decision-making process was simple from training. The fire just added a lot of adrenaline to the situation.”..." [You betcha sweet bippy it did ]

Source: http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/t ... ction.aspx

Definitly his action not just regarding saving his life but to save as much as he could of the aircraft certainly helped in solving the cause of the fire which might help in saving lives in future.

Bogdan: Martin-Baker will cover cost of F-35 ejection seat fix
22 Oct 2015 James Drew

"...In another update related to the catastrophic engine failure at Eglin AFB last June, Bogdan says every Pratt & Whitney engine will be retrofitted with new parts by June 2016. About 44% of the fleet has already received the fix. “It was unfortunate, but we’re putting it behind us,” says Bogdan."

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... io-418063/

Hi all

Looking for high res photos of the entire aircraft wreckage after the fire (or during) to add to the history of this aircraft in the serial database. I only found low-res photos.

Thanks,
Jon

Was this accident report posted elsewhere - I do not recall & have searched for it without success - so it is posted here:

Details divulged of F-35A catastrophic engine fire
17 Jun 2015 Mitch Shaw

"...The report also gives the first cost estimate for the damage the fire created. “While total costs as a result of this mishap have yet to be determined, damages to the mishap aircraft have been estimated to be in excess of $50 (million),” the report says...."

Accident Report: http://www.standard.net/attachment/2015 ... rt-pdf.pdf (2.1Mb) attached

PHOTO: "A damaged fan case from the F-35A that burst into flames last year at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida." http://www.standard.net/image/2015/06/1 ... -2-jpg.jpg
&
"Pictured is the scorched F-35A that burst into flames last year at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Damage was estimated at $50 million." http://www.standard.net/image/2015/06/1 ... re-jpg.jpg

Source: http://www.standard.net/Military/2015/0 ... rce-report

OOoopss Found the Accident Report here on this thread at the time 09 Jun 2015 on page 32 this thread

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25667&p=292596&hilit=Accident+Report#p292596

Page 20 this thread has hint about WHICH aircraft: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25667&p=277608&hilit=Battle+Damage+Repair#p277608

F-35A airfreighted from Eglin to Hill for BDR
Aug 2019 Dave Allport

"OFFICIALS AT Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, announced on June 24 that its personnel have completed the first ever wing removal and shipment by air transport of an F-35. The four-year project, which cost $200,000, culminated in the transport of the aircraft to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, where it will become the US Air Force’s first F-35 battle damage repair (BDR) trainer.

After being prepared for shipment, on May 8 the aircraft was loaded onto C-17A 06-6158 from the 60th Air Mobility Wing’s
21st Airlift Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California, by aerial porters from the 96th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

It was then flown from Eglin to Hill. The identity of the aircraft involved is unconfirmed." [follow hint URL above]

Photo: "The as-yet unidentified F-35 being loaded onto 60th AMW C-17A 06-6158 at Eglin AFB on May 8 before being flown to Hill AFB for use as the USAF’s first battle damage repair F-35. USAF/2nd Lt Monica Lubis"

Source: AirForces Monthly Magazine August 2019 Issue #377

As I noticed the updated AF-27 thread, I remembered that among the 60+ pages of web news (not so interesting to me) in tabs left unattended open in [My] browser, there is an article on AF-27.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGptXlILKvs/

officialhillafb
October 23, 2020
Another example of Team Hill Airmen collaborating and innovating!
Units at Hill AFB recently collaborated to reattach the wings of a damaged F-35A Lightning II aircraft repurposed as a maintenance trainer and testbed for developing new Aircraft Battle Damage Repair procedures and technologies.
The aircraft referred to as AF-27 was condemned after a 2014 fire that occurred during take-off while assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida, and was acquired by Hill’s ABDR Program Office in 2019.
The aircraft was delivered to Hill’s 309th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight by a C-17 military transport aircraft, a first for the F-35 program.
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center engineers used a unique variety of ABDR engineering techniques for the re-wing design on the aircraft, including a reattachment structure to withstand the weight of the wing itself along with the weight of a 12-inch thick sheet of ice – more than 5,000 pounds.

“The sheet of ice serves as a doomsday scenario that takes into account the most catastrophic environmental loads expected in Utah,” said 1st Lt. Sam Sentongo, chief of Hill ABDR Engineering.
More importantly, Sentongo said the new wing structure “allows for multiple personnel with equipment to stand on the wing, facilitating AF-27’s mission as a trainer as well as an ADBR technique development testbed.”
Airmen with the 372nd Training Squadron Detachment 3 and the 309th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight provided additional labor and expertise to reattach the wings.
The 372nd has also used the aircraft to develop and instruct an F-35 crew chief course and the active-duty 388th Fighter Wing has used it to train Airmen on a multitude of flight line related tasks that would be more difficult with an operational F-35.
More story/photos at the link in our bio! (U.S. Air Force photo by R. Nial Bradshaw)

https://hilltoptimes.com/2020/10/29/hil ... osed-f-35/

HILL AFB UNITS REATTACH WINGS ON REPURPOSED F-35
Posted onOctober 29, 2020 By By R. Nial Bradshaw 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs CATEGORY:News
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Units at Hill Air Force Base recently collaborated to reattach the wings of a damaged F-35A Lightning II aircraft repurposed as a maintenance trainer and test bed for developing new Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) procedures and technologies.
The aircraft referred to as AF-27 was condemned after a 2014 fire that occurred during take-off while assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida, and was acquired by Hill’s ABDR Program Office in 2019.
“Transporting AF-27 to Hill required the wings to be cut off in order to fit inside transport vessels since – unlike any other fighter in the Air Force’s inventory – no provisions exist for detaching or reattaching the wings,” said 1st Lt. Sam Sentongo, chief of Hill ABDR Engineering.
The aircraft was delivered to Hill’s 309th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight by a C-17 military transport aircraft, a first for the F-35 program.

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center engineers used a unique variety of ABDR engineering techniques for the re-wing design on the aircraft, including a reattachment structure to withstand the weight of the wing itself along with the weight of a 12-inch thick sheet of ice – more than 5,000 pounds.
“The sheet of ice serves as a doomsday scenario that takes into account the most catastrophic environmental loads expected in Utah,” said Sentongo.
More importantly, Sentongo said the new wing structure “allows for multiple personnel with equipment to stand on the wing, facilitating AF-27’s mission as a trainer as well as an ADBR technique development testbed.”

Airmen with the 372nd Training Squadron Detachment 3 and the 309th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight provided additional labor and expertise to reattach the wings.
The 372nd has also used the aircraft to develop and instruct an F-35 crew chief course and the active-duty 388th Fighter Wing has used it to train Airmen on a multitude of flight line related tasks that would be more difficult with an operational F-35.
“The F-35 program is in the throes of developing an ABDR manual for the three aircraft variants and AF-27 will be critical in helping develop and validate ABDR tasks,” said Dan Santos, 309th Maintenance Group heavy maintenance program manager. “AF-27 will be used to provide critical training to technicians in the accomplishment of assessing battle damage.”

Thanks 'doge'. Your 'unattended TABS' are awesome.