Posted on 02/07/2022 10:55:27 AM PST by BenLurkin
When Lt. Kara Hultgreen died while trying to land on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the event touched off a national debate about women in combat roles and the military pushing women who weren’t ready into active service. Except Hultgreen was more than qualified to be a naval aviator – she was just a victim of a well-known deficiency in the F-14’s Pratt & Whitney engine.
On Oct. 25, 1994, she was attempting to land her F-14 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. She overshot the landing area’s centerline and attempted to correct the mistake. Her correction disrupted the airflow into her Tomcat’s left engine, which caused it to fail. This was a known deficiency in that particular engine.
By the time she died, Lt. Hultgreen had more than 1,240 hours of flying time in the F-14 Tomcat and had landed on a carrier some 58 times, 17 times at night. She was ranked first in defending the fleet from simulated attacks by enemy aircraft and in air refueling, and second in tactics to evade enemy aircraft and in combined familiarization with tactics and aircraft.
Her colleagues and fellow pilots praised her performance as a naval aviator and reminded people that 10 F-14 pilots were killed in accidents between the years of 1992 and 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at wearethemighty.com ...
She wasn’t killed by her instructors. She was killed by their superiors at high levels within the Navy that forced them to push her through. Everyone knew she wasn’t up to the task of flying F-14s, but it didn’t matter to the people who over-road the recommendations of the training officers. My guess is that all the instructors had CYA memos concerning her lack of ability and potential danger to others.
Unfortunately she didn’t rate so well on getting the plane back down on the flight deck. It’s a more important skill than the others.
It’s not like it’s 1944 any more:
“Captain, we lost 6 Hellcats and 8 Helldivers in the last op.”
“That’s ok. We are getting so many new ones this week that we’d have had to push those older ones over the side to make room for them.”
Tomcat and F-35s are a bit harder to replace.
That’s what I remembered. No one was surprised that she crashed and killed herself.
There was never a mention of an engine failure. Even if there was one, the F-14 had two engines and could easily fly with just one.
“...a well-known deficiency in the F-14’s Pratt & Whitney engine....”
P&W probably got more than a few memos on that “glitch”.
Yeah, so funny. Did you even read the report at the link.
No idea what the hell has happened to FR posters. The incredible ignorance and more and more mocking of US military personnel is incredible.
Re: 24 - and that has what to do with the article at hand?
I thought so - absolutely nothing.
When you are landing on a carrier the plane is barely flying. A sudden engine failure will drop you like a rock. The real issue is did her flying cause the engine failure.
No one? Not one person?
Unbelievable what some FR posters have turned into.
Hush Pubbie.
Bingo..!!
Although I know nothing about the aircraft, as a retired pilot with many years experience in prop driven aircraft, I doubt that the engine is to blame.
All sorts of weird changes in airflow occur when high performance aircraft change angle of attack or similar changes in attitude.
My suspicion in this case would be that the “slight” course correction caused a disturbance in the airflow to the engine.
For instance a slight skid or sidslip might have caused the fuselage to disturb the airflow, thus causing the engine to lose power.
Only a person highly qualified in that aircraft can answer this question, and I am not that person...but I do know that it is possible.
She probably did all those things in a simulator.
It's a very different time. The intellectual laziness and at times whack job theories (med beds, quantum financial system, etc.) of a growing number of FR posters is a poor sign for the conservative movement.
I think there was an NICS episode about a pilot like that.
Or it could be that we have posters that are so sure they are really funny and should be on TV.
The are the “See me mommy” babies.
The people who spent the first 20 years of their live saying “See me mommy, see what I can do”.
Too many errors in this article to correct. I suggest if you want a good synopsis of the Hultgreen incident, watch the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFUXshaaMQM
I have a ‘few’ hours in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and I think you’re right.
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