Posted on 03/27/2005 11:42:54 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
3/25/2005 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) -- An F-15 Eagle crashed at about 8:35 a.m. March 25 about 50 miles northeast of here.
The pilot ejected safely and was flown back to the base. He and the aircraft are assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron.
A board of officers will investigate the accident.
The Nellis flight safety people are probably going nuts. An F-16 from Nellis crashed 10 days ago. (He took off intending to fly to Florida for a missile exercise. Soon after takeoff, the plane developed problems undisclosed yet. The piloted attempted RTB but couldn't make the runway. He ejected safely and the plane crashed short of the runway.)
Darn. . .and these things seem to happen in three's.
The pilots are lucky , If this was a submarine the Capt. would lose his job, and his career.
There will be some folks getting orders soon, even before investigations are complete. Once it's known that personnel are okay, next thought is often about moving vans.
In my time at least, the Air Force really frowned on folks crashing their airplanes.
Then they were frowning quite a bit.
Well at least if your submarine engine stops you will land in the water.....
A lot of military aircraft crash.
My experience is that an aviation accident is not treated the same as a ship grounding.
If a ship runs aground, barring an engineering failure caused by some unpreventable happenstance, then procedures have not been followed appropriately, and disciplinary action almost always follows.
There are plenty of reasons a plane may crash through no fault of the pilot, and he may not be held responsible. In the standard investigation, even if it is found that a mechanic safety-wired a bolt incorrectly or put a pin in backwards, they may or may not be disciplined.
If there is a pattern of shoddy work, the commanding officer of the squadron may pay for it.
Ping
A neighbor growing up, commanded a submarine that grounded. I don't know for what period of time, but it did not matter. This gentleman was top shelf, heavily educated by the Navy, etc. He was reassigned to the Navy Annex, then he retired. The suburbs of the Beltway are full of stories like this. Making it to general staff level is a game of survival.
True enough. But it is different for aviators. Planes and helicopters crashing is a numbers game, I think. You fly long enough in military craft, and you are going to have some kind of mishap. Subs and surface ships are definitely different...no doubt about it.
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