Fallen Angel

[Mr70]

I thought there is an unspoken code when a pilot is going down in a residential area that he can not avoid.
He will sacrifice his own life before others and not eject from the cockpit.
They stay on the stick and aim for a clearing or less congested area as much as possible in those
residential areas,to keep civilian loss at a very minimum.

[427TJ]

[ QUOTE ]
These guys don't go down in residential areas, they steer away.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was trained by the USAF to SURVIVE a crash or ejection. No doubt the Blue Angels are too. One of my USAF flight school instructors set me up to eject during a post-flight debrief examination. (Oral examination/discussion.) My jet struck birds just after takeoff, flamed-out both engines, and I had to talk through the ejection procedure. As I reached for the ejection handles the instructor said that my plane was aimed right at the baseball field on base and that there were kids playing baseball, all looking up at my falling jet. I said that I would delay my ejection and steer away from the kids. Man, my instructor unloaded on me! "That's the number one factor in aircrew fatalities: the delayed decision to eject!" The lesson was: EJECT. I even expressed sympathy for dropping a disabled jet onto a ball field full of kids but my instructor's reply was blunt: "They'd do it to you." It hammered home what military pilots are taught to do first: save yourself. You can't go on fighting the war if you're dead.

If that Blue Angel fully blacked-out (G-induced Loss Of Conciousness, or G-LOC) then he had no idea what was going on when he went in--he was out-cold. A pilot can pull hard enough (pull Gs) to lose control of his arms and legs and still be fully aware of what's happeneing during a near-G-LOC event (been there, done that) and that is truly terrifying. You're wide-awake but you can't see or move a muscle or even twitch your finger while the jet flies on merrily through the sky until you regain muscle control and vision.

The human survival instinct is far too strong to cause a pilot facing death to "steer away" from the orphanage. It sounds cold and cruel but I was taught to eject and drop the jet onto the kids' baseball game. The only time a pilot steers away from the kids is when he can do so and still eject safely. The delayed decision to eject kills more military pilots than anything else. "Steering away" was probably made up by military Media/Public Relations officers to make heroes out of pilots who died in airplane crashes near kids' baseball games.

[nuch_ss396]

Bill,

Interesting point of view. I would tend to agree that the
instinct to survive outweighs the disire to stear clear of
a "bad crash". I don't think I could stay with the plane
all the way in to save others. Hope that doesn't make me
a bad person.

A close friend of mine was a long time fighter pilot and
he told me many times that the guys that think about it
too long end up dead. He personally punched out three
times in his career. I would most likely have done the
same.

Do you think the investigators will ever know the real
reason this Blue Angel pilot didn't punch out?

Steve

[mockingbird812]

"Do you think the investigators will ever know the real
reason this Blue Angel pilot didn't punch out?"

In a former life I was an Aviation Safety Officer and sat on more than a few Class A (major) mishaps with the Marine Corps. It is likely they will have a high degree of confidence as to what caused this mishap and why the pilot did not eject (it is possible he may have initiated but did not clear the aircraft). There will be vasts amounts of information and hard data which will aid the mishap board in making very real recommendations based on what the evidence supports as to what happened. They will start with the flight data recording, comm. calls, interviews with witnesses, detailed examination of the wreckage to include engineering investigations of each subcomponent of the aircraft and of course an autopsy of the mishap aircrew. From the data recordings they will reenact the mishap and perhaps even use a simulator to aid them. An intensive review of his history and training prior to the mishap including his psychological and physiological status. The mishap board will have the highest prioritization for all of the above and are charged with a formal report within 30 days unless there are extenuating circumstances (such as recovering a aircraft from a remote site or deep water). The board is made up of world class experts within the military service (including aviators from safety, maintenance, operations, training & flight surgeons and aerospace physiologist representing the aeromedical disciplines), engineering facilities and laboratories, aircraft manufacturer reps, national pathology (post mortem in this case) facilities, and other specialized entities as needed. The aircraft mishap board is charged to figure out what happened, make recommendations to prevent future occurrences, notify the fleet, and do it fast. This is sent up the chain of command for validation and changes as neeeded. I have no knowledge of this particular mishap other than what is publicly released. I do know that the Blues do not wear anti-g suits (they rest their right arm on their right thigh while holding the stick and the inflation and deflation of the g-suit bladder would throw off their highly intricate/delicate maneuvers) and g-episodes are a real threat. Nutrition, sleep, stress, fatigue, hydration, all have a strong influence on a pilots g-tolerance. Given the pilots recent move to the primary performance team will undoubtedly be looked at carefully.

The level of professionalism within the Blue Angels is like none I have ever witnessed before. They are simply the best of the best. It is sad news when one of the greats do not return home.

[Xplantdad]

Wow Sam...interesting reading...thanks for the info

[P.J.]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought there is an unspoken code when a pilot is going down in a residential area that he can not avoid.
He will sacrifice his own life before others and not eject from the cockpit.
They stay on the stick and aim for a clearing or less congested area as much as possible in those
residential areas,to keep civilian loss at a very minimum.

[/ QUOTE ]

I could not live with myself if I saved my life rather than
10 kids on a baseball field. Even if it was agaist the rules.
PJ

[P.J.]

My prayers go out to the family of this brave dedicated
Pilot. I had the privilage a while back of being invited onto the ss Kennedy for the day for manuvers off the coast for the day.
The invitaion was from the captain of the fly boys on that carrier.
I must admit that I was never in my life more impressed by the patriotic passion and professionalism of the men and women of that ship. May god bless them all.
PJ