Well, I guess we can forget the dogfighting comment.
Posted on 05/08/2002 5:20:57 PM PDT by balrog666
TWO TRAINING PLANES FROM N-A-S PENSACOLA COLLIDED THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO.
IT'S LIKELY ALL *SEVEN* PEOPLE ON BOARD THE AIRCRAFT WERE KILLED.
RESCUE CREWS ARE NOW ON THE SCENE OF THIS AFTERNOON'S MISHAP.
THEY'VE LOCATED DEBRIS FROM THE PLANES ABOUT 4O-TO-50 MILES SOUTH OF PENSACOLA BEACH.
BUT HAVE NOT FOUND ANY BODIES.
THE TWO T-39'S WERE ON A ROUTINE TRAINING MISSION. THEY CRASHED ABOUT THREE-THIRTY THIS AFTERNOON... THAT'S WHEN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL LOST RADAR CONTACT WITH BOTH PLANES.
SO, IT'S ASSUMED THEY COLLIDED.
THE T-39 SABRELINER IS BASICALLY A MILITARY-MODIFIED BUSINESS JET.
A PILOT.. AN INSTRUCTOR AND TWO STUDENTS CAN FLY IN THEM DURING TRAINING.
THERE WERE FOUR PEOPLE ONBOARD ONE PLANE AND THREE ONBOARD THE OTHER.
THE AIRCRAFT ARE ASSIGNED TO TRAINING AIRWING SIX. CAPTAIN CHAUNCE MITCHELL RECENTLY TOOK OVER AS THE COMMANDER OF THAT AIRWING.
WE SPOKE WITH HIM ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF FLIGHT TRAINING.
Capt. Chaunce Mitchell/TRAWING 6 CMDR: "Thinking at 600 miles per minute, but also being able to navigate the airplane, communicate as you need to, aviate the airplane and when you get to the fleet - operate the weapons systems and do that effectively is probably where the challenge is."
THE AIRCRAFT ARE UNDER AIRWING 6 - AND ASSIGNED TO TRAINING SQUADRON EIGHTY-SIX.
THAT TRAINING SQUADRON RECENTLY CELEBRATED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF MISHAP-FREE FLYING. THE LONGEST STREAK IN NAVAL AVIATION HISTORY.
IS THERE ANY CHANCE THAT THE AVIATORS SURVIVED?
I HATE TO SAY THERE'S NO CHANCE. BUT THE T-39S DO NOT HAVE EJECTION SEATS...
SO RIGHT NOW.. N-A-S PENSACOLA IS ASSUMING THEY'VE LOST SEVEN PEOPLE FROM ONE OF THE MOST ADVANCED AND TALENTED TRAINING SQUADRONS IN THE NAVY.
Prayers heavenward.
My husband was in AOCS at Pensacola in the early 80's.
Excuse my ignorance, but why would two T-39s be flying in close formation?
A spokesperson for NAS Pensacola says the two planes, identified as T-39's, were on a routine training mission when the crash occurred. Both were assigned to training air wing missions and were stationed at NAS.
Rescue crews from NAS and Coast Guard of Mobile are participating in search and rescue efforts.
No word yet on passengers or injuries
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(Note: past air-to-air crashes, as well as ground clobber, have been known to occur during simulated dogfighting).
(Update from 6:30 pm CST)
Coast Guard search and rescue aircraft have discovered two debris fields believed to be the remains of two T-39 Sabreliners that went down about 40 miles south of Pensacola Beach on Wednesday afternoon.
There is no sign, however, of seven Pensacola Naval Air Station aviators who went down with the planes.
The search continues.
Air traffic controllers lost radio and radar contact with the planes about 3:30 p.m., said Harry White, spokesman for the naval air station.
There was no mayday and no distress signal before the disappearance, he said.
Within minutes, Navy and Coast Guard aircraft and boats were launched to scour the area where the planes are believed to have gone down.
The T-39 is a multiseat, multipurpose training jet that serves the intermediate phase of flight officer training, after the T-34 and before the T-2.
The T-39, which in civilian life is used as an executive jet, is not equipped with ejection seats.
The missing planes are part of Air Wing six, Training Squadron 86.
Last month the squadron celebrated its 25th anniversary of accident-free flying.
Since 1990, eight T-34s have crashed locally.
The crash was reported to Coast Guard Group Mobile, which immediately dispatched two Dolphin helicopters, one Jayhawk helicopter and a C-130 longe-range plane from Air Station Clearwater. The 87-foot cutter Stingray from Mobile, a 41-foot utility boat from Pensacola also were sent.
Coast Guard aircraft reported the two debris fields - separated by about six miles - shortly after they arrived and a helicopter dropped a data-marker buoy to assist searchers in locating survivors, a Coast Guard report stated.
Well, I guess we can forget the dogfighting comment.
I'm a female jet pilot, and I assure you that whether you are a good pilot or not does not depend upon gender. There is no dumbing down of standards for women pilots.
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