23 Jul 10: CF-18 Crash @ Lethbridge Airport

[The Bread Guy]

CF-18 Hornet crashes at air show in Lethbridge
July 23, 2010

"Winnipeg, Man. – At approximately 12:15 p.m. MDT today, a CF-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed during a practice session for the Alberta International Airshow in Lethbridge, Alta.

Captain Brian Bews, the 2010 Demo Hornet pilot from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron based at 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, successfully ejected from the aircraft and has been recovered. The aircraft impacted on the airfield, and emergency crews have responded. At this time, there are no reports of any additional injuries.

The exact cause of the crash is unknown at this time. A Flight Safety investigation is currently underway."

 

[PegcityNavy]

 

[Good2Golf]

George, take it from me, half the facts reported in the first 24 hours after a major news event are wrong, only because we have to rely on dumbasses we talk to an the lack of first-hand information.

Here's an example. If you read what you quoted above and made such fun of, it was the RCMP who issued the statement that you take such issue with about the pilot apparently ejecting and reportedly not suffering lifethreatening injuries. Feel free to put it your dumb quote file, but do correctly attribute it to a federal civil servant, not a reporter who wrote down the words of the guy the federal government chose to issue an official statement about what occurred.

40below, maybe the RCMP officers are too used to using legalese phrases such as "reportedly" or "allegedly".  Imagine, 'Constable Jones of the Lethbridge RCMP Detachment was quoted as saying, "the pilot allegedly ejected before the plane impacted the ground." ' 

Some pretty amazing pics here courtesy of photographer Ian Martens of the Lethbridge Herald.

Glad to hear that Capt. Bews is okay!

Cheers
G2G

 

[The Bread Guy]

40below, maybe the RCMP officers are too used to using legalese phrases such as "reportedly" or "allegedly".  Imagine, 'Constable Jones of the Lethbridge RCMP Detachment was quoted as saying, "the pilot allegedly ejected before the plane impacted the ground." ' 

It's not JUST the RCMP that sometimes sounds stilted when speaking to or writing for the media...

 

[Good2Golf]

It's not JUST the RCMP that sometimes sounds stilted when speaking to or writing for the media...

Oh, the military can sound pretty bad, too!  :nod:

 

[punkd]

He owe's his rigger beer for that.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Oh, the military can sound pretty bad, too!  :nod:

Sadly, LOTS of government writing can sound like, well, "government writing"

 

[40below]

40below:  First off, thanks for coming into the open to help us learn a bit more about the craft.  I know you work hard at getting it right, and try to get your colleagues to do it right, too, but as with cops/soldiers/politicians, the group often suffers because of the mistakes of the few.
Good point - I stand corrected for not providing more context.

The DS solution:  "I've seen a, witnesses tell me b, spokespersons say c, other media outlets (named) say d, and we don't know e yet."  That said, there's also pressure on the reporter from the bosses to get something out.  This part is a structural issue, not an individual reporter issue (although, being human, some reporters and editors take shortcuts).  I've also worked in places where we were told "it's OK if the others get it first, but we will get it right." 

In your example:The DS solution would be "The RCMP says...."
Touché, fair enough and I don't feel piled on.  Two critical differences, though:

1) I'm not and don't claim to be a journalist - just an idle former journalist who bakes bread on weekends and armchair quarterbacks critiques MSM and professional communicators from time to time  ;D

2)  I tend to see forums like this as a one-stop "mosaic" where tiles from different media outlets get pulled together until something approximating a picture emerges.  Then, more tiles from people who know the biz get plugged in to make a more nuanced mosaic.  I don't have the editor yelling down the phone at me (anymore, anyway).

Then again, maybe I'm bitter & twisted sensitive because of stories other outlets would steal from me without crediting/attribution, or being misquoted or taken out of context by some MSM

I know, T, and if I can shed some light my work here is done. But you know, I know, and everyone here knows that unlike civvie world, when something bad happens in mil land, the order goes out that everyone needs to STFU five minutes ago. I'd love to talk to the tech that serviced that plane or the guy's wingman, absolutely love it because I'd get the story right, but guess what? He's not doing interviews and will probably be court martialled if he does. Which is why it's funny to come on here after every significant incident and see people bitching about the press when the press can't talk to the people who know what's going on and then blame the press for trying to do their jobs without the information they can't get from the military.

 

[belka]

Looks like the #1 engine was in full AB, while the #2 was still in MIL. A #2 engine failure would explain the yaw to the right. He was just too low to recover unfortunately.  :-\

 

[DexOlesa]

wow nice catch.

 

[Good2Golf]

That yaw could have been cause by a mechanical problem (engine or something). I also really don't want to immediately point the finger at the pilot, but as a pilot I have to say that it looks very much like he got too slow, stalled with a wing drop causing a spin which no matter what he would have been too close to the ground to correct. I hope I'm wrong and it wasn't pilot error but thats the way it looks to me.

Ummm...as a pilot, you do know he was flying a sequence called "slow flight", where you slow down to a high-drag profile at low speed and high thrust/high AOA, right?  That's why it was slow. 

People who start sentences with "I don't want to...." usually end up doing exactly that, which you did.

Let's let the Directorate of Flight Safety investigators do the investigating, shall we? 

Cheers
G2G

*edited to add original post to which I was referring

 

[Zoomie]

but as a pilot I have to say that it looks very much like he got too slow, stalled with a wing drop causing a spin...

Unless you are a high performance aircraft pilot - I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.  You don't see G2G, Strike, Loachman or myself making comments - we don't fly those kind of military aircraft.  You cannot compare a Hornet to a Cessna.  Research Vmca and see if it applies.

 

[DexOlesa]

I know what slow flight is, I TEACH slow flight I also teach Vmc. It IS possible to mess up slow flight and end up in a stall. Unlikely for a seasoned high performance pilot yes, but not beyond the realm of possibility. Yes, you are right Vmc applies, I did not notice the difference in the engines in that picture. I wasn't looking that closely I just went off the raw footage.

 

[vonGarvin]

All I know is that it's great news that nobody was hurt.

 

[PegcityNavy]

Im glad that he didn't drift into that fireball.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Got to love those zero-zero- ejection seats!

 

[Trish]

and raw video links here as well:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/crashes+Alberta/3315220/story.html

How ironic, the song ''staying alive '' plays at the beginning of the video, while he's flying just before he crashed !

 

[DexOlesa]

Is all we have that his injuries are "thought to be non life threatening" or do we have confirmation that he's ok/ just some scrapes and bruises. Has he been released yet?

 

[Occam]

Looks like the #1 engine was in full AB, while the #2 was still in MIL. A #2 engine failure would explain the yaw to the right. He was just too low to recover unfortunately.  :-\

The photos that were linked in reply #22 show an even better view of the aircraft.

I'm guessing you're determining the state of the engine from the chummieyodelers that open and close at the engine exhaust?  (pardon the technical terms  )

 

[Good2Golf]

The photos that were linked in reply #22 show an even better view of the aircraft.

I'm guessing you're determining the state of the engine from the chummieyodelers that open and close at the engine exhaust?  (pardon the technical terms  )

Yes.

Variable Exhaust Nozzle (wiki ref even uses an F/A-18 for the pic)

A GE-404 engine's nozzle is wide open when at idle/start or at full afterburner.  When operating in full military power (essentially maximum rpm, but without the afterburner) the nozzle is closed down to maintain working pressure within the engine and optimize thrust from the exhaust.

An important factor in multi-engine aircraft, even those with "close to center-line" thrust like the CF-18, is the minimum controllable airspeed at which the aircraft can still be successfully flown, even with an inoperative engine.  Experienced pilots call this airspeed "Vmca" and it is always in the back of their mind when they are manoeuvering the aircraft in the low-speed portion of the the flight envelope. 

Cheers
G2G