CF-18 Airshow Crash

[BHawthorne]

I just saw this while reading WIX. Anyone know much about it?

http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/390/cf18.jpg

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/fighter+crashes+Lethbridge/3315229/story.html

[Sehm]

interesting footage, engine failure or FCS failure perhaps? Glad the pilot made it out!

[Deckerd]

Wow, what a coinsidence. The moment i opened the thread i saw the video to this picture in the news. :wacko:

They say it was an engine failure

[heartburn]

(EDIT: I didn't realize the first link in the thread had the video as well. I will leave this here, though, in case the above video gets nuked for some reason...)

Here is video of the crash: CF-18 Hornet Crash 07-23-10 (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=765_1279936610)

Apparently when the pilot landed his chute caught a gust of wind and dragged him several hundred feet across the ground which knocked him out. (I didn't see that in the footage, just read about it in an article)

[BHawthorne]

All I know is that pilot is lucky. The most violent part for him was probably the ejection itself. Wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause of the backout. I picked that pic because it showed the reality of just how close he was before he ejected. Looked like he made sure the aircraft was gonna nose in before he pulled out. It shows the ejection seat flying through the air on it's own right between him and the aircraft.

[snacker]

He was performing a low flypast right? What could have gone wrong? Also, how does he avoid landing on top of the barbequing wreckage or does the parachute have some sort of direction control mechanism?

[Cougar12dk]

The parachute is a giant brake, so he wasn't going to get much closer to the flames than what he is in the picture. But I'm sure he felt the heat for a second or two.

[bstar07]

It looks like she flew too slow and got stall.

[Cougar12dk]

Yes it does.... looks like he/she was demonstrating the classic high alpha manouvre, got too slow and stalled.

[noobie_falcon]

Do you think it was an aerodynamic stall or compressor stall?

[Cougar12dk]

I think it's an aerodynamic stall.

I think that because, right before he stalls there's still forward movement of the aircraft as it starts to "lean" right. Maybe he purposely banked it slightly before ejecting to avoid it flying much further.... but maybe it's more a reaction of the aircraft because the sick isn't being held anymore (the Hornet does not have a force sensing stick) and that the blast from the ejection seat pushed the stick further forward and to the right.

I presume that if the engine stalls there would be a kind of *EDIT* low *EDIT* pitched sound from the compressorblades when they stall. And since it sounds like the engines keep running, I don't think that's what happened.

'Course it'd be better to hear it from the pilot what actually happened.

[SupersonicMax]

Allright, it wasn't a stall. The Hornet stalls at 45 Alpha. The High Alpha pass is a 25 Alpha manoever. According to Boozer (by the way, him and I are on squadron together), he felt yaw to the right and the nose fell below the horizon. At that point he punched out (no, he did not stay in the plane to steer it in a safe area) According to him, it felt like an engine failure. If you look at the other pictures, you can clearly see one nozzle fully opened and the other one fully closed.. One thing is sure is that the power was not the same on both engines.

A 425 ETAC pilot

[Cobra]

Thanks SupersonicMax for your input. Glad to hear Boozer got out ok, please pass on our best.

What you say seems to also be the theory other F-18 pilots I have spoken with say as well.

I guess we will only know when the full investigation is complete.

I'm sure this discussion doesnt mean to place any blame on anyone and is merely enthusiasts discussing a topic they very much love, so please dont take it the wrong way.

:smile:

PS what i find interesting from the photo posted here is there is only a flame being pushed out one engine?