Thunderbird crash 14 Sep 2003

Not intenting to be gruesome, but there are some interesting photos and video of the ejection sequence and subsquent crash. The pilot ejected at very low altitude, less than 200 ft I'd guess.

KTVB is the local news station in Idaho:

http://www.ktvb.com/index.html

That's low indeed! When you look at the pictures you can see the pilot's parachute opening and just leaving his ejection-seat when the Viper is already in flames on the ground!

Reminds me of Antoly Kvotchur (sp?) and the MiG-29 crash at Paris in, what, 1987? Looks like the F-16 was in almost level flight when he ejected, as opposed to almost straight down like the MiG.

Yes, it was the Lithuaian born Anatoly Kvotchur. He ejected during the 1989 Paris Air Show.

He was flying just over 100 miles per hour at an altitude of about 500 feet, and when the right engine stalled he had to eject. As his K36DM ejection seat exited the cockpit, the aircraft rolled towards its starboard side and then descended in an almost perfect nose-first vertical attitude. Less than two seconds after Kvotchur punched out, the aircraft crashed to the ground. Kvotchur?s parachute opened fully the moment his feet touched the ground. He suffered only minor injuries during the spectacle.

FYI: The <a href="http://www.f-16.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=842">article</a> has been updated with some background information regarding the pilot.

A few pictures have also been posted.

A good video can bee seen at: <a href="http://www.ktvb.com/cgi-bin/bi/video/G2redirect.pl?title=5101714">http://www.ktvb.com/cgi-bin/bi/video/G2redirect.pl?title=5101714</a>

Somewhere at home I have a photo of Anatoly Kvotchur flying one of my simulators at the 1991 Dayton Air Show. He showed no hesitation at shooting down the MiG-21 in the simulation...

Not to hijack this (my own?) thread, but here are links to some of my pics of Victor Pugachev in Oklahoma City, 1990:

http://www.lonestaraeroclub.org/gallery/g01-17.htm

http://www.lonestaraeroclub.org/gallery/g01-20.htm

And just to keep it on topic:

http://www.lonestaraeroclub.org/gallery/g02-04.htm

GregD

From what I've heard, Pratt & Whitney seem to think that the engine failure was caused by a bird strike.

There is no substantiation for an engine failure at this time. All the press reports quoted "witnesses." No one on the ground could possibly know the engine condition at the time of the mishap. Perhaps the pilot knows, and you can bet he's not talking to the press.

Indeed, it doesnt really look like an engine failre to me. Perhaps just a pilot error in misjudging the loop and he had to bail out?

While the video quality was poor, I did not see any evidence of engine failure - no smoke or debris associated with FOD-ing an engine.

Also, on the descending part of the split-S isn't the engine throttled back anyway? This 'lack of engine sound' may have been misinterpreted by the crowd as an engine failure.

IMO it looked like the pilot had full control of the aircraft all the way through the climb and the descent, and punched out when he determined he was out of airspace at the bottom of the maneuver. I'm not criticising the pilot but sh*t happens sometimes, even to the best of men.

Stories of the pilot intentionally steering the aircraft away from the crowd are, while admirable, pure bunk. Anyone familiar with Thunderbird routines and airshows in general (ever since the Frecce Tricolore accident) knows that, per FAA regulations, the flight vector cannot be aimed at the crowd in most if not all maneuvers. In particular, the split-S after takeoff by the #6 solo is aligned along the runway and never comes close to pointing at the crowdline - which IIRC is at least 1500 ft from the runway.

Just my $0.02,

GregD

Stories of the pilot intentionally steering the aircraft away from the crowd are, while admirable, pure bunk. Anyone familiar with Thunderbird routines and airshows in general (ever since the Frecce Tricolore accident) knows that, per FAA regulations, the flight vector cannot be aimed at the crowd in most if not all maneuvers. In particular, the split-S after takeoff by the #6 solo is aligned along the runway and never comes close to pointing at the crowdline - which IIRC is at least 1500 ft from the runway.

Just my $0.02,

GregD

Yes GregD, the Airshow rules prevent the crowd from being directly in the line of flight for 99 % of all manuevers

jms

FAA document AC No: 91-45C, WAIVERS: AVIATION EVENTS

http://www1.faa.gov/fsdo/orl/files/advcir/AC91-45C.TXT

WAIVERS: Aviation Events, #2 of #2, Appendix Only, AC91-45C.

http://www1.faa.gov/fsdo/orl/files/advcir/AC9145CA.PDF

Thank God that nothing have happened with the pilot and spectators. I´m sure that the team will move on.

Pilot-error or not, this fighterjock was extremely lucky. Judging from one of the pictures at http://www.ktvb.com, the pilot is hanging horizontally in his chute about 20 meters from ground as the plane desintegrates. One would think he is in from some serious soulsearching .....