Pilot Broke Rules When He Buzzed Downtown (Ohio ANG F-16)

The Columbus Dispatch ^ | Saturday, February 24, 2007 | Matt Tullis

[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

[Garvin]

Max speed of an EA6B prowler is 533 knots or 613 mph (at sea level) (That's with no Pods or drop tanks, they create a lot of drag). I was in Aviano, Italy (Operation Deny Flight) in the squadron (VMAQ-1)that was there prior to the incident. EA6B Aircraft never flew without Pods or drops unless it was a test flight. Rumor mill has it they were practicing Low Altitude Tactics (LAT's) (Enemy Evasion), and didn't know the cable was there. Saw pics of the Aircraft. Tuff airframe made by Grumman Aircraft Corporation was the only reason it made it back. They are nicknamed Grumman Iron Works for their tuff Airframes. As can be seen in this picture. Tech Rep (Mad Max McDonald)standing on hole from Missile in outer wing of Marine Corps A-6E Intruder.

[Nasty McPhilthy]

I thought this was interesting.


http://p-38online.com/phantom.html

[Brofholdonow]

Are you talking about Al Gore???

[narby]

Wasn't it just a few years ago that some hotdog killed a bunch of people in Italy riding a ski tram up the mountain when he "buzzed" the car and ended up snapping the cable?

You'll note that they couldn't bust him for flying below the 1000 AGL limit for populated areas, just for going too fast. If an F-16 pilot can't fly 1000 feet AGL, then he should be grounded.

I think I remember the ski tram incident, and I believe he wasn't "buzzing" the car, but was on a low altitude route and got lost. Such flying is normal fighter stuff, but he was in the wrong place.

[narby]

As cute and macho as some may think it is because they saw in a corny movie, it is a dangerous and immature stunt with expensive taxpayer equipment that should ground any pilot who does it.

Dangerous and immature was when Richard Bong flew between the buildings in downtown San Francisco while waving to the secretaries in the windows. Dangerous was when he looped his P-38 around the Golden Gate Bridge. Scaring the populace was when his propwash blew a ladies washing off the clothes line and he was ordered to go to her house and do her laundry the next week.

Oh, yes. He went on to be the top ace that the United States ever had, or probably ever will have.

[narby]

#85 was for you....

[narby]

I was on the crew that got this P-38 back in flying condition after 30 years or so of neglect. Wish I was back there working. The pay was nearly non-existent, but it was lots of fun.

[SwatTeam]

LOL no, I wasn't talking about Algore. I was refering to the C-5. You know, that huge transport plane that looks like it is barely moving.

[SwatTeam]

One of the earliest memories I have is seeing one of those planes flying over our house when we lived in Ft Knox, Kentucky. My Dad was in the Army and I must have been about 3 or so. It was during WW2.

[DesScorp]

Military aviation should be exempt from those rules. The FAA shouldn't have jack-shiite to say about this.

[DesScorp]

fso301, War Eagle :)

[Nachoman]

The pilot was just looking for a bridge to fly under.

[tlb]

"Time Magazine Monday, Apr. 18, 1949

Last fall Chuck Yeager was asked to help dedicate an airport in West Virginia, his home state. Flying down from Wright Field in an F-80 jet fighter, he found the Kanawha River at Charleston crowded with a motorboat regatta. Chuck roared down the river, 20 ft. above the boats, at almost 600 m.p.h., shot under a highway bridge, did two slow rolls, and zoomed out of sight."


I've seen the pictures of this event. If you have skills you use them.

[ccmay]

The sound of freedom and security. I'll listen any day.

One of the most comforting sounds I ever heard was when a pair of F-16's flying CAP flew low over my house on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001.

-ccm

[ccmay]

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.

Do all fighter pilots do this at some point? One of my high school friends nearly got a court-martial for doing the same thing to our hometown in an F-16.

My old man was a Spitfire and P-51 pilot in WW2. He once caused an air-raid alert by dropping empty pop bottles over fields at the edge of town on a night training flight. They nicely simulated the whistling of falling bombs. For sure he would have been cashiered if he'd been caught.

Another guy I know, who is now an airline pilot, nearly lost his $200k+ part-time job by buzzing his hometown airport in an MD-11 on a dead-head ferry trip. (He had the permission of the tower, but definitely not his boss).

I guess I'm glad we have you crazy guys out there defending our country, but you sure are a bunch of damn fools.

-ccm

[JoeGar]

My old man was a Spitfire and P-51 pilot in WW2.

In Chuck Yeager's autobiography, Yeager, he tells of a West Virginia friend who needed some trees topped; therefore, Yeager kindly obliged the man by roaring over the man's land and topping the trees with his prop. With every generation, it seems that the rules of correctness get more stringent.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Subject aircraft had a defective radar altimeter as well.

[Brofholdonow]

I know, just funnin' buddy. I remember many a summer driving down to Dover and seeing those magnificent freighters at Dover AFB