Posted on 09/20/2018 11:20:51 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
A T-6 Texan trainer from Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph crashed roughly 30 miles from the base near Rolling Oaks Mall, Air Education and Training Command officials said Tuesday.
“The crew ejected and is safe with minor injuries reported at the site,” AETC said in a Facebook post.
“There were no civilian casualties, and the extent of damage to property has not been assessed,” officials said.
Members from the base’s fire and safety units from the 12th Flying Training Wing responded to the incident alongside local responders, the announcement said.
Two parachutes were seen deploying from the aircraft, indicating the airmen ejected prior to the crash, Col. Dedra Witham, AETC spokeswoman, told reporters during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber conference.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Air Force likes recycling names of former successful aircraft for procurement purposed.
F-35 Lightning II etc.
Thank you for your honest and considerate answer.
One can learn so much on FR.
Thanks for the pic. Now the crash requiring an ejection seems more mysterious. Probably pilot error. Must have gotten the plane into some unrecoverable spin resulting in overstress and structural failure, or possible a fire in flight.
That’s a PT-6 turbine engine. I have over 2000 hours flying PT-6 turbine engine aircraft, and they are very reliable. The PT-6 either works very well, or it just doesn’t at all. And if the engine quits (turbine or gear box failure), they generally have a really good glide ratio and good engine out landing characteristics (note the straight wing and medium camber). Its actually pretty hard to imagine an ejection scenario, other than major failure or fire, given the PT-6 reliability.
The Navy does it too.
They stopped naming nuclear attack submarines after fish decades ago.
And started naming aircraft carriers after politicians at the same time.
Tough ejection
It happens. The P-47 was the Thunderbolt and the A-10 in the Thunderbolt II.
Yes my first thought precisely
Not a routine ejection
Last American tail dragging bomber was the B-17.
And tail dragging jets only makes the runway building contractors happy.
Looks like the AF is now using these in place of the venerable Tweet. Wonder what the spin characteristics are like.
My dad had a T28 privately. Maybe a D model
He was a Tac fighter pilot 55-62
I think he trained in the T6 too
We always had planes for business
That was his only fun plane
That’s true, it’s not the old WWII T-6s that you see at airshows.
No, the modern T-6s have ejection seats.
I’ve kinda wondered that myself. I guess Texan “II” is the distinction but still...
Local San Antonio newspapers (like the one linked in #1) are saying that the cause is engine failure, I don’t know how they know that, what info they’ve received, from who, etc.
Ping.
I live here. It is not 30 miles. More like 5 miles from Rolling Oaks Mall.
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