Posted on 01/17/2006 5:11:51 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
A ROYAL Air Force Eurofighter crashed on landing in eastern England when its front wheel failed to descend properly, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
The Typhoon jet suffered damage following a malfunction of its landing gear as it touched down at the RAF Coningsby base in Lincolnshire, eastern England, on Monday, an MoD spokesman told AFP. No one was hurt and an investigation was now under way into what caused the problem, he said.
The Typhoon Eurofighter is produced by a consortium of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), BAE Systems and Italy's Alenia/Finmeccanica.
It is due to be introduced into the RAF in stages, reportedly within weeks, according to British newspaper The Sun in its edition today.
The MoD spokesman told AFP: "I can confirm that a Typhoon did have problems landing at RAF Coningsby yesterday (Monday). The front wheel failed to come down properly.
Advertisement: "But the pilots were able to land safely. There was some damage to the aircraft. There is now an investigation into what happened. No one was hurt." The daily tabloid also quoted unnamed official sources as saying it was not the first time the Typhoon had suffered problems with its landing gear.
The Eurofighter is a multi-role combat jet with a range of 2500km and can be equipped with a mix of missiles depending on its mission.
The jets reportedly cost about £65 million each ($153 million).
Last month Britain signed a multi-billion dollar contract with Saudi Arabia to supply an undisclosed number of the jets.
They will replace the Tornado warplanes supplied to the oil-rich Gulf state in another huge, and controversial, deal two decades ago.
22 November 2002
Defence Systems Daily
Eurofighter crashes in Spain
http://www.defence-data.com/eft/eftpage16.htm
its the bidet in the back that keeps malfunctioning. The euro-weenies are so much more sophisticated than are we.
This is a fine aircraft and has had its share of developmental setbacks. However, overall this is a state-of-the-art fighter. There were some problems with the F-22 fly-by-wire systems that caused some embarassing/hair-raising moments also. These are typical in developmental programs.
This particular design lacks stealth capability which makes it a 4th gen fighter in my opinion and not very useful against an opponent of the 5th gen.
That is a surprisingly good looking plane.
Yeah but I don't like a right hand drive
Nellis seems to be one of those bases where lots of interesting stuff is always going on. Never been there.
Is a crash landing a crash where no one dies?
Lets just say the Brits fly in american formations and vice versa..alot more than people think.
Any landing you walk away from is a good one.
There were British RAF all over the place.
Yeah alot of civilians dont understand the special relationship with the US/UK since the world wars and to present day. I just hope the UK doesnt become a tool of the EU (aka United States of France)in the future.
A crash landing is a landing that is controlled, but either had problems before, or during the landing. It can have casualties.
A forced landing is an unplanned one, but can result in no harm to ac, or passengers.
A good landing is one where there is no damage to the ac, and no one but the pilot saw how lousy it was. :)
Be better with the 3d nozzles.
http://www.eurofighter.com/Images/Video/Nothing%20comes%20close%20320.mpg
Here is a pretty good Typhoon Propaganda CG video. I love those limey bastards. :)
I did a test out there. Cool place.
I was at Edwards up on Rocket Ridge. We did all the defensive testing for the B-1B. That was an awesome plane.
500 ft off the ground at .9 mach...awesome
The Lancer is one mean bird.
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