Posted on 02/24/2007 1:09:53 PM PST by buccaneer81
Pilot broke rules when he buzzed Downtown Saturday, February 24, 2007 Matt Tullis THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The F-16 flight carrying then-Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson over Downtown in August rattled workers for only a few seconds. The investigation into whether the jet flew too low or too fast took 174 days.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s conclusion: The F-16 Fighting Falcon was flying at almost twice the speed limit and too low.
The report the agency turned over to the Air National Guard on Feb. 7 says the pilot flew at speeds of up to 550 mph at altitudes between 2,100 and 3,000 feet.
FAA regulations say the top permissible speed over Downtown is 288 mph. The jet pilot, it added, did not have authorization from air-traffic controllers at Port Columbus to fly below 10,000 feet.
The flight also "was contrary" to a regulation that no one may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner, according to a synopsis of the report.
Regulations for congested areas such as Downtown say a pilot must obtain authorization to fly as low as 1,000 feet above the tallest structure. The city’s tallest structure is the 629-foot-high Rhodes Tower.
The agency has no jurisdiction to discipline a military pilot, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. Instead, it turned its report over to the military.
Col. Mike Roberts, vice commander of the Guard’s 178 th Fighter Wing based in Springfield, where the flight started, said he had not seen the report. He said the pilot was disciplined based on the fighter wing’s own investigation.
"We found that the pilot did inadvertently go faster than FAA regulations allow," Roberts said. He would not describe the discipline, saying it was an internal matter.
The F-16 fighter jet roared north over Downtown on Aug. 17 at about 3,000 feet and between 422 and 550 mph, according to the FAA report. It flew over the Ohio State University campus between 2,100 and 2,300 feet and as fast as 497 mph before heading back Downtown for a final pass.
As the jet left Downtown, it was traveling at nearly 472 mph.
The Air National Guard said that day that the flight was "by the book" to show Johnson what the plane could do. One day later, though, the FAA announced it was investigating because it had received "a couple" of complaints."
Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city.
Mike Overly, spokesman for the Aviation Safety Institute, a nonprofit center based in Worthington, said he was not surprised the FAA took so long to reach a conclusion.
"I don’t think this is really high on their priority list," he said, "because this is the military and a politician, a bad combination; and nothing happened except some people got scared."
mtullis@dispatch.com
You get coffee all over yourself?
True, but this fighter wing was slated for redeployment or base closure by the base-closing commission. The Lt. Gov. was part of the state delegation that helped save the wing.
"Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city."
I wonder what excatly they thought the police were going to do? Ohio cops don't have Stingers, do they?
He should have straffed.
LOL! Well, that too, right before you scream for "Butt!!"
LOL
Over the course of the trial, it was found that the plane was flying at speeds in excess of 500 miles per hour--faster than military regulations allow--when it hit the cable car wire.
The cable car wire hung at 260 feet, over 700 feet below the military-approved altitude of 1,000 feet.
Additionally, it came out in the trial that the military-issued map that the pilots were using did not show the cable car.
In 1968, I turned off my transponder and I flew my F4 down my hometown Main Street at 500 knots just above the only stoplight in town. I then pulled up into the vertical, began dumping fuel from both wingtips, and corkscrewed out-of-sight. Then I dropped below the radar, flew at treetop level to the coast, hid behind some barrier islands for a while, popped up and then landed. Heh, heh. Gosh, I miss those days.
Thanks, I hadn't heard that. Puts it in a different light.
I guess some rules and regulations should be ignored if you are on the "correct" side....
Absolutely.
I never drive over the posted speed limit; even on a sunny day.
(See my FR homepage.)
The P-38 Lightning is my favorite prop plane.
"On my first confrontation with the P-38, I was astonished to find an American aircraft that could outrun, outclimb, and outdive our Zero which we thought was the most superior fighter plane in the world. The Lightning's great speed, its sensational high altitude performance, and especially its ability to dive and climb much faster than the Zero presented insuperable problems for our fliers. The P-38 pilots, flying at great height, chose when and where they wanted to fight with disastrous results for our own men. The P-38 boded ill for the future and destroyed the morale of the Zero fighter Pilot."...Saburo Sakai, Japanese Ace
Heh, heh, heh. When I was a flight student in Beeville, Texas, a farmer brought one of his cows to the base in the back of his pickup truck. The cow was dead -- with a 2.75-inch inert rocket sticking out of his side. Somebody got off a darn good shot.
Every few months I go to San Antonio for a week for my company. The store there is on the flight line of Randolph AFB. I get to see so many cool aircraft coming and going, from trainers to F-15's to a couple of V-22 Osprey. I love going there.
"Some people panic and call 911 when a little boy draws a picture of an army tank with crayons. These people are nuts."
-- --
listen to this whackjob call 911 about burger king not making her kid's hamburger.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/audio/burger.wma
Cool.
LOL! Dairy or Beef?
What a bunch of whining sissies. Ooooh, a jet, I'm scared!
We occasionally have two F-15s do a flyover of Lake James, NC where I live. By the time you hear them, they're not where you here the exhaust. Now we look about a mile further past where we hear them.
The last time, I call a friend who is in the AF and asked him if he talk to the base commander requesting more fly-bys over Lake James.
Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city.
I have always been disdainful about public policy driven by the insane and the neurotic.
Specially when it's just a "couple" of them.
"Absolutely.
I never drive over the posted speed limit; even on a sunny day.
(See my FR homepage.)"
What is the website URI?
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