Even the best get into trouble...Wonder what happened? Vick, you know this guy?

http://www.avweb.com/news/airventure/EAAAirVenture2011_F16RunwayOverrun_205088-1.html#gallery


Bummer

AKT

Doh!

I know what happened. We used to hear this all the time at the fire dept. The brakes wouldn't work. I was pushing on the brake. The harder I pushed the faster it went. Stupid car.

Good day

Heard a story at the restaurant... someone heard the conversation on the radio... apparently when this happened, the Air Force demanded that the airport be shut down in order to investigate the incident. Oshkosh tower and/or the FAA and/or Pope Paul said no. Then they demanded that runway (main show runway) be shut down, which I believe they did for part of the day.

Nobody I heard from seems to know if this was a pilot error overshoot, a brake problem, or a combination of the two.

Runway was shut down for a while....he landed a little long.
Bad way to end your day as the fly-bys they did looked great.

Likely the biggest audience (attendees + aviation media + mainstream media) of his flying career-and he (by early report consensus) lands long and bends and breaks things.......
I think we can all feel for this guy.....
I know a lot of US have that capability....
Often it's when things seem to be the BEST-they can turn to sh!t the quickest!

It might be the end of a 'shortened' career....(Can you say 'desk jockey'?)

lc

Just saw a video of an FJ4 running off the same runway.

Looks like he's in full afterburner - did he notice it's taking a lot of power to taxi? By the way, who says he's "the best?" I bet there are folks around here that can fly rings around most of these guys. You guys are the ones that always amaze me with your stick and rudder skills. You're the best - and after flying for 40+ years I only hope to be as good as some of the folks on this site!

Best,
O-2

Agreed,

They(U.S. Military pilots) are the best at what they do. But they don't always make the best corporate pilots, airline pilots, aerobatic competition pilots or just plane ole general aviation pilots.....let alone Back Country Pilots. Of course the opposite can be true also. Some folks who are pretty good at civilain flying would make lousy fighter pilots. Any one of us can have a bad day,

About 30 years ago my friend was attending an airshow in Illinois. The F-15 was rather new then and the Air Force sent a group of their better pilots to show it off. After the airshow one of the F-15 pilots stopped by to admire my friends Pitts S1-T. He asked if my buddy would possibly let him fly his Pitts?!! Hard to believe but Fred handed him the keys.

Twenty minutes later his Pitts was a crumpled heap and the fighter pilot was dead.

Fly safe,

Bob

z3skybolt wrote:Agreed,

They(U.S. Military pilots) are the best at what they do. But they don't always make the best corporate pilots, airline pilots, aerobatic competition pilots or just plane ole general aviation pilots.....let alone Back Country Pilots. Of course the opposite can be true also. Some folks who are pretty good at civilain flying would make lousy fighter pilots. Any one of us can have a bad day.

So true. I run into this somewhat regularly. We get guys from the local AF base that want to join our flying club. A couple of years ago, I got an F-16 jock that cockily made the comment that he "used to cuss the little bug smashers and now he was going to be one" in a somewhat condescending tone. An hour later, he was dripping in sweat, eyes as big as a saucer, and was baffled how he could have flown so poorly. He about drove the plane into the ground on his first landing attempt. I would be lying if I said I didn't take some joy out of commenting that this little "bug smasher" just ate his lunch and while it may not go Mach 2, it would still kill a person if not given the respect it deserves. Some skill sets just don't transfer.

I keep wondering if Eaa was paying for the fuel and will they pay for the repairs. Or will it just be added to the debt the country is carrying?

8 years ago the Thunderbirds were performing at "gunfighter skies", the annual airshow at Mountain Home Idaho, and the last plane to take off crashed on the runway a few seconds after he left it. In a TV interview later the pilot said his departure performance was to climb 2500 feet, do a split-S and buzz the runway, so like always he added 2500 to the field elevation, rounded it up to the next 100 feet, and wrote that down as his rollover altitude. He forgot to carry the 1 in his math and rolled into a split-S at 1500 feet, ejecting a few seconds before the plane hit the ground. That was his last flight as an air force pilot. Anyone can make a simple mistake, but sometimes simple mistakes cause big problems.

Just as an FYI:

I'm personally acquainted with the pilot of the F16 that had the overrun.


First accounts are that the plane had a massive internal failure, causing smoke/fire in the cockpit, with complete loss of hydraulics and instrumentation. Had he been at altitude, he would have ejected. That was considered, but given that there was a large crowd, as well as a lot of planes, he elected to continue to ride it out and maintain control such as he could.


Since he flies the same Mustang I do, and I know him, I would at least submit that until all the facts are known that it would be most courteous for us to not state that he "messed up", at least until that is known. Perhaps he did. I don't know. I do know that he is a quite competent pilot of a T6, Mustang, and other high performance tailwheel aircraft.



I too have experienced the "airline pilot", the "air force pilot" guys who are cocky and obnoxious, who are humbled by the T6 in their transition training. In this case, I hope we all reserve judgement until we know the facts.



stan

one more data piece...in my ANG days, we always had an arresting cable on the bases we flew F16s out of...just in case we had brake failure...then the hook would catch the distal cable and stop the overrun. OSH is not so equipped....

southernboy:

Wait till all the facts are in?!!! Are you some kind of nut job wacko? This experienced and well trained pilot was obviously an accident waiting to happen....

Southern Boy:

I wasn't disparaging your buddy. Don't know if anyone "messed up" or acted heroically. I was just trying to remind the folks that just because you're a military pilot, or a fighter pilot, you're not necessarily "the best." In any relm of flying, be it military, airline, or general aviation, there are good pilots, bad pilots, and dangerous pilots. In 40+ years of flying, I've seen newly minted private pilots with 50 hours I'd fly anywhere with and multi-thousand hour "pros" working for major airlines I wouldn't taxi around the hangar with. Becoming a military pilot basically takes good eyesight and a college degree. Becoming good is, like in most endeavors, a mix of talent, hard work, and a willingness to learn from our mistakes and those of others with a commitment to life-long learning. Your friend may be one of "the best." Hope he is ok.

Best Regards,
O-2

how do you figure he was an accident waiting to happen?


It's a serious question. I'm not certain how my post would incite you to call me a "nut job wacko"...

my limited time riding around in the back of the F16, and listening to the briefs/debriefs about failure modes gave me a great deal of respect for the complexity of that piece of equipment. Perhaps he made a mistake. But, I'm willing to wait until I know more about what happened before I cast aspersions.


If you have data, please share it. I'm not aware of it at present.

Let's keep it civil and refrain from personal attacks. (PM it if you need too.)

I'm just glad no one was hurt, something like that can end up with far worse results.

OUCH! I think Little wheel was being sarcastic - in reference to the tendency we all sometimes have to jump to conclusions....

Best,
O-2

O-2, I agree. He may well have had a lapse in judgement. I just don't know.


I completely agree that skills in the F16 don't necessarily translate to other planes. I've done enough T 6 transition training to know that...but, OTOH, this pilot was a full time F16 guy. He had demonstrated good skill and judgement, in that plane many times before. Some of our group at OSH had talked with him the day after the accident, and he reported a massive internal systems failure. So, I'm willing to let the facts come out. If that makes me a "nut job wacko" here, then I perhaps misjudged the general attitude and demeanor here. He may have indeed simply screwed up. I don't know. However, neither do some of the people who are quick to vilify him.