Posted on 06/15/2005 3:37:11 PM PDT by AFPhys
Just breaking: Harrier, probably Marine Corps, crashed in Yuma, AZ - possibly within the city.
I should have read page two before posting. Glad he is ok.
Yeah, shorter as opposed to being a thin red smear on the landscape? I'll take shorter.
Why is everything crashing this week? One day after another...
Wow, even cooler description. I enjoyed reading it.
With the tempo of operations being such, I am suprised that we have not lost more a/c. There is never enough money for spare parts, not enough down time between deployments to refurb damaged a/c, ect... It is no wonder that the maint. crews can do just about any miricle with next to no parts & supplies available. Most of the monies seem to be going the next wave of a/c's & R&D for the next generation. The Marine Corps also has the smallest budget of all of the armed services there fore the have to more with less. I am interested in seein the cause of this mishap!
AV8B uses the ACES II ejection seat system. The pilot when he activates the ejection system his feet are reeled in & the det. cord in the leaxn canopy goes off [there by shattering the canopy] the O2 system disconnects and the pilot is rocketed out of the stricken a/c. He is there by shorter by 1 1/2 inches in heighth. a Navy/Marine Corps pilot is only allowed to eject 3 times during his time in the service & upon the 3rd ejection he is medically retired. The ejection is the most powerful forces ever put upon an basically unproected body short of a space suit!
Just think of how many aircraft took off and landed without incident this week.
If everything was crashing, it would be raining aluminum.
I guess that I was not real clear on what is happening. I am really surprised that we have not lost a lot of a/c. This is to the credit of all the maint. crews! They can improvise adapt & basically overcome just about any problem that comes their way and take great pride in their "birds"!
Interesting, I did not know that. Must be quite an experience to punch out even once, let alone three times.
The compression to the spinal system is very sever! Every time you punch out you are an 1 1/2 inches shorter every time. That is a lot of hurt in anybody's book! If you accidently trigger the ejection system on the ground and not strapped in just looking over the seat, it WILL kill you right there on the spot, not just laying there for a little bit waiting to go, but fight there on the spot the moment the rocket ignits off! It is quite an E-ticket ride.
Harrier jet crashes in Yuma, pilot safely ejects
A Harrier jet from Yuma Marine Corps flew into one and possibly several homes in Yuma Wednesday afternoon, a Yuma police officer said.
KYMA-TVUSA - A Marine Harrier jet carrying live ordnance crashed in a Yuma neighborhood this afternoon.Authorities say there were no reports of injuries, and the pilot ejected safely.
A spokesman at the Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma says the jet was coming in for a landing when it crashed.
The jet was carrying four-500-pound bombs and 300 rounds of 20-milimeter ammunition.
A spokeswoman for Yuma Regional Medical Center says no one else was taken to the city's hospital as a result of the crash.
A Red Cross spokeswoman says about 13-hundred people were evacuated, including a trailer park that's less than a block from the crash site. A shelter was set up at a nearby middle school.
Authorities say it's likely that residents would be out of their homes overnight.
Officials can't say for sure how long the evacuation would last.
Wouldn't the reason be that they have the smallest budget is that the Corps are the smallest force?
I've always said the Harrier was a poor investment....and no one has convinced me otherwise.
It has a sweet way of landing though.
Roger that :) We have two of his books, both signed by him. We also have a framed print signed by him, as well. There's a lot of cool memorabilia displayed around the squadron. We had a blast back when it was *really* fun...prior to the Clinton regime. Awesome, awesome people. Most left active duty for the airlines in the late 90s because everything was broken, monthly flight mins weren't even being met, fuel allotment would run out. Danger, danger. Clinton was devastating to our military in too many ways to list.
Perhaps....it's entertaining atleast.
"I've always said the Harrier was a poor investment....and no one has convinced me otherwise."
Why I'll have you know that I was told once by a very well respected Marine Aviator that the Harrier was the finest technological device ever created by man for the conversion of fuel into ...
... noise!
HAHAHA
Great sense of humor he had.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.