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Top Gun pilot forgot landing gear
[Tucson] Arizona Daily Star ^ | 05.10.2006 | Carol Ann Alaimo

Posted on 05/10/2006 7:28:38 AM PDT by IonImplantGuru

A former Navy Top Gun with decades of flying experience forgot to put his plane's landing gear down during an air show practice run in Tucson in March, the Federal Aviation Administration found.

Retired Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, a seasoned pro on the military air-show circuit, was piloting a Korean War-era F-86 Sabre that scraped to a stop and caught fire in the March 4 mishap at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Snodgrass, 57, was given counseling as "corrective action," according to the FAA report, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star under the Freedom of Information Act.

The pilot was unhurt in the incident, which shut down air-show practice at D-M that day. The vintage warplane he was flying, owned by a California air museum, sustained minor damage when one of its wing fuel tanks ignited.

The F-86 was one of dozens of warplanes in Tucson to practice formation flying for the 2006 air-show season. The event was not open to the general public. Snodgrass remains on the Air Force schedule this season. The service still has "total confidence in his abilities," according to a statement from the Air Combat Command.

Snodgrass, a Florida resident, declined to comment on the FAA finding.

(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: ace; f86; jetjockey; oops; sabre; topgun
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Your pilot:

Even the good ones can have a brain fart on a bad day!

1 posted on 05/10/2006 7:28:40 AM PDT by IonImplantGuru
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To: IonImplantGuru

When I worked in a control tower we always had to confirm "gears down" after using the binoculars.

I wonder what else happened here....


2 posted on 05/10/2006 7:30:09 AM PDT by Loud Mime (War is humanity's way of dealing with the tyranny caused by liberalism)
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To: IonImplantGuru

doncha just HATE IT when that happens?


3 posted on 05/10/2006 7:30:24 AM PDT by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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To: IonImplantGuru
I have heard a saying which goes something like this...

There are two kinds of pilots, those who have forgotten to deploy landing gear, and those who haven't yet.

4 posted on 05/10/2006 7:31:53 AM PDT by lormand (...the wrong person came out of the water that fateful night in Chappaquiddick)
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To: IonImplantGuru
Snodgrass remains on the Air Force schedule this season.

Should add even more excitement to the air shows.

5 posted on 05/10/2006 7:32:57 AM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: Aeronaut
For Aviation Ping, Aero.

.pdf file of FAA report hung up Firefox when I tried to open, but maybe it was just my machine.

6 posted on 05/10/2006 7:32:57 AM PDT by IonImplantGuru (Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)
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To: IonImplantGuru

Word on the grapevine is that he did something like this a couple years ago at St. Augustine, his current home field.


7 posted on 05/10/2006 7:33:54 AM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: IonImplantGuru
Yup. Just another reminder that it's a bad idea to run the checklist from memory.

When I was working Shuttle down in Houston, it was always fun when John Young would step in for a little refresher training in rendezvous simulations, because he'd just do things from memory. More often than not, he ended up missing the target by miles and miles, because he did something stupid "from memory." OTOH, it was a lot of fun to be part of trying to save the sim....

8 posted on 05/10/2006 7:34:01 AM PDT by r9etb
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To: IonImplantGuru

ahit happens.., I've seen some forget to extend LG.


9 posted on 05/10/2006 7:34:25 AM PDT by boomop1 (there you go again)
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To: IonImplantGuru
How do you know you landed "gear up"?

Easy, it takes full power to taxi!

(that is in addition to the sparks show)

10 posted on 05/10/2006 7:34:41 AM PDT by Cliff Dweller (No such thing as a threat... just targets)
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To: IonImplantGuru
Before anyone starts disrespecting Snort, just remember that at one time, he was in command of every Tomcat squadron in existence. He is also a former Pukin Dog, and one of the very best fighter pilots this nation has produced. Everyone has a bad day.
11 posted on 05/10/2006 7:35:52 AM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: Pukin Dog

Fortunately he walked away from this bad day...and I have no doubt will be paying the price through ribbing for a long time to come.


12 posted on 05/10/2006 7:37:00 AM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: Cliff Dweller

Reminds me of the one where two pilots land a plane on a very short runway, then wonder why it was a mile wide.


13 posted on 05/10/2006 7:37:35 AM PDT by Loud Mime (War is humanity's way of dealing with the tyranny caused by liberalism)
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To: Loud Mime
When I worked in a control tower we always had to confirm "gears down" after using the binoculars.

Yeah, having spent years listening to military air chatter, you always hear the pilot (Navy at least) verify "three down and locked" on the downwind leg. And, as you say, the tower also verifies the gear. Weird.......
14 posted on 05/10/2006 7:37:35 AM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: IonImplantGuru
This is also Dale Snodgrass.


15 posted on 05/10/2006 7:38:25 AM PDT by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: IonImplantGuru

'Snort' fuels the F-86 during last year's practice at Davis Montham. The jet is the same one he flew on March 4 when he failed to deploy the landing gear.
Jeffry Scott / Arizona Daily Star 2005

16 posted on 05/10/2006 7:38:38 AM PDT by IonImplantGuru (Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)
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To: IonImplantGuru

How can I expound upon, "OOPS!"


17 posted on 05/10/2006 7:39:44 AM PDT by azhenfud (He who always is looking up seldom finds others' lost change.)
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To: IonImplantGuru

Anyone you can walk away from...............


18 posted on 05/10/2006 7:40:39 AM PDT by P8riot (Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.)
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To: Pukin Dog

Yeah, and Snort's was still a good landing - he walked away from the bird.


19 posted on 05/10/2006 7:42:07 AM PDT by azhenfud (He who always is looking up seldom finds others' lost change.)
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To: Pukin Dog

Today, I'm just happy I'm me and not him.


20 posted on 05/10/2006 7:42:50 AM PDT by Roccus
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