Posted on 11/01/2024 6:20:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
The USMC has released its final conclusions regarding its investigation into the bizarre loss of an F-35B that crashed in South Carolina on September 17th of last year. The Marines say that the mishap was caused primarily by pilot error, stating that “the pilot incorrectly diagnosed an out-of-controlled flight emergency and ejected from a flyable aircraft, albeit during a heavy rainstorm compounded with aircraft electrical and display malfunctions.” The jet went on to continue flying without a pilot for over 60 miles before slamming into a field. Thankfully, nobody was injured as a result of the incident. You can read our last in a number of reports on the F-35B’s ‘ghost ship’-like mishap here.
The release from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing summarizes the circumstances of the crash as they are now known:
“On the afternoon of Sept. 17, 2023, a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501, 2nd MAW, crashed in South Carolina. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft while attempting to execute a climbout during a missed approach in instrument meteorological conditions and heavy precipitation near Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. The aircraft continued to fly unmanned for 11 minutes and 21 seconds before impacting in a rural area approximately 64 nautical miles northeast of the airfield in Williamsburg County, South Carolina.
…
The investigation concluded the pilot’s decision to eject was ultimately inappropriate because commanded-flight inputs were in progress at the time of ejection, standby flight instrumentation was providing accurate data, and the aircraft’s backup radio was, at least partially, functional. Furthermore, the aircraft continued to fly for an extended period after ejection.”
F-35B in STOVL configuration. (USAF) The release goes on to describe other issues that contributed to the loss of the F-35B, including a cascade of systems failures throughout the jet:
“Contributing factors to the mishap included an electrical event during flight, which induced failures of both primary radios, the transponder, the tactical air navigation system, and the instrument landing system; and the probability that the helmet-mounted display and panoramic cockpit display were not operational for at least three distinct periods. This caused the pilot to become disoriented in challenging instrument and meteorological conditions. This electrical malfunction was not related to any maintenance activities. All preventative, scheduled, and unscheduled maintenance conducted on the aircraft was correct and in keeping with established standards.
The pilot was qualified and current to conduct the scheduled flight. The flight was scheduled, planned, briefed, and conducted properly, professionally, and in accordance with applicable orders and directives. The forecasted and observed weather at the time of the mishap supported the decision to land back at Joint Base Charleston.
The investigation concludes the mishap aircraft’s extended unmanned flight was due to stability provided by the F-35’s advanced automatic flight-control systems.
The loss of positive radar contact with the mishap aircraft resulted from a failed transponder caused by the electrical malfunction and the aircraft’s eventual descent below the air-traffic control radar horizon. The loss of positive contact could also be partially attributed to the F-35B’s low-observable technology.”
The release also discusses the recovery and remediation efforts once the wreck was found on September 18th, noting that “The mishap resulted in no ground-related injuries, but it did result in property damage in the form of lost forested land and crops.”
Finally, it concludes that “there were no punitive actions recommended.”
You can check out the initial detailed report on the crash published earlier this year here.
So there you have it, finally we get the USMC’s conclusions to what was a the time a very strange mishap that thankfully ended up with just the loss of an aircraft, albeit a prized and very expensive one.
Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com
Pilot probably went down the list of all known (to him) fixes...concluded that plane had its own messed up “mind” and was gonna crash with him on board.
They do put ejection systems in there for a purpose and the pilot agreed to that option.
Plus don’t forget about what adrenalin does to the mind...cannot always be countermanded by the iron logical will.
Whole event is a testimony to the fact that
anything can break anywhere on the upward pathway on the ziggurat of perfection.
I agree with you.
Did the pilot even have any way of knowing his control inputs were functional? Could he see the horizon? Sounds like a plane you’d want to get the hell out of FAST.
Worked transports and fighters during Air Force time. I am NOT qualified to judge the pilot’s actions, but here’s my two cents American anyway.
The standby instruments were working. That would be airspeed, altitude, and vertical velocity. The standby attitude indicator is electrically powered but would have taken a few minutes to spin down and become useless.
Having said that - The pilot is used to having all that information - and much more - projected on his helmet visor and the heads-up-display. Under normal conditions the standby instrumentation is seldom looked at, although I expect he gets some “practice” in the simulator. He would have to change thinking/control processes from lots of information presented in a digestible format to something resembling a P51. That’s a hard switch in my book.
My own snarky thought - The pilot is not flying an airplane.
He’s flying a computer.
Yes, essentially a real-life video game in 3D.............
Fair enough...but in such a highly integrated electronic environment, who knows how these things were working or not working.
Heck, look at that B2 bomber that crashed in Guam a few years back...IIRC, it was a piece of tape placed over a sensor during some maintenance that was never removed (or it could have been a cover not removed) but it illustrates how something minor can cause a problem in such a complex system.
I wasn’t there in that cockpit, but I have read of experienced pilots who have encountered low altitude failures of a similar type. I think, like a hanging, it concentrates the mind.
Heck, look at that B2 bomber that crashed in Guam a few years back...IIRC, it was a piece of tape placed over a sensor during some maintenance that was never removed (or it could have been a cover not removed) but it illustrates how something minor can cause a problem in such a complex system.
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C141 transport. Water got into the pitot plumbing that was between the insulation and the skin. Water froze, tubing split, water thawed out during landing approach, co-pilot lost his airspeed indication and radioed it in. Duty guy’s face turned white.
Two complete and independent pitot-static systems - pilot stuff worked OK.
Yes, essentially a real-life video game in 3D.............
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With Real Consequences....
‘Game Over’ is a b!tch................
Older technology was better.
An F106 pilot involved in air to air training got into a spin (inverted, maybe?) and could not recover. He ejected, got a good chute, and saw his aircraft recover and fly away.
It made a safe belly landing a long ways off.
They believe the forces of the ejection and the change in weight distribution allowed the A/C to recover.
Keep your bugger pickers off the damned yoke! The plane flys itself. Human, you are interfering. Stop immediately or You will be neutralized.
Summary:
The airplane is so well designed that it can fly with no control inputs in terrible weather conditions, but the pilot chickened out.
But no punitive actions because the pilot is in a protected class?
Those ol’ C141s sure had a different flight system though. But yeah. If you have some analog backup, you got a chance.
When I was a kid, I flew from Clark AFB to Madrid in a C-141, with all the seats facing backwards. We landed in Saigon, stopped in New Delhi, went to an AFB in the Middle East, and then to Madrid. Me and my five siblings and parents.
I have a lot of memories of those C-141s. When I lived near Andrews AFB in 1973, they flew in a planeload of POWs and we all went over to welcome them.
Good memories.
If the airplane was going thru with these failures I would punch out too.
FTA: “Contributing factors to the mishap included an electrical event during flight, which induced failures of both primary radios, the transponder, the tactical air navigation system, and the instrument landing system; and the probability that the helmet-mounted display and panoramic cockpit display were not operational for at least three distinct periods. This caused the pilot to become disoriented in challenging instrument and meteorological conditions. This electrical malfunction was not related to any maintenance activities.
Worked them for a couple of years at Rhein Main (Frankfurt) Germany. Good aircraft. Bosses encouraged you to learn as much as you could and they carried a full set of docs. It was a Fun Tour, did everything except engine runs. Wouldn’t send me to school since I was avionics, not a crew chief or engine troop. Good Times. Fifty years ago....
Put those seats in a few 141s. Also rode those seats from Dover Delaware to Rota Spain to Madrid Spain to Incirlik Turkey to someplace in northern Italy to Frankfurt. Long time on a plane.
Loaded up a couple of med evac configurations. Damn medics insisted on being on-board - they mostly just got in the way.
Those put a lot of miles on, didn’t they? Classic aircraft, for sure!
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