Aircraft Was from Strike Fighter Attack Squadron (VFA) 213 On Routine Training Sortie. It’s the 14th major incident involving a Hornet of any variant since May 2016.
A U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet two-seat combat aircraft crashed at approximately 4:30 PM EDT, Wednesday, March 14, 2018 near Key West, Fla. Both crew members are being reported as dead after being transported to Lower Keys Medical Center in Florida. Reports indicate the crew did eject from the aircraft prior to the crash. The aircraft was from Strike Fighter Attack Squadron (VFA) 213 “Black Lions” based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The aircraft went down one mile east of the runway on landing approach to Boca Chica Field, Naval Air Station Key West when the accident occurred.
Photos from the crash location show the aircraft with gear and hook down, upside down on the surface of water; other amateur shots show an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter hovering over the same area after the F/A-18F appears to have submerged.
Just received a new pic from the F/A-18 crash site off Key West. Unbelievable, glad the aircrew made it out. pic.twitter.com/Mur0vUPE7B
According to an official statement released by the commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic, “Search and rescue crews were notified shortly after the crash where they recovered both the pilot and weapons systems officer from the water approximately one mile east of the runway. Both were taken by ambulance to Lower Keys Medical Center,” A later announcement read, “Both aviators have been declared deceased. Per Department of Defense policy, the names of the aviators are being withheld until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.”
The Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet is a twin-engine, two-place multi-role combat aircraft widely used by the U.S. Navy primarily in the ground attack role. The aircraft is also being operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is a more advanced version of the original F/A-18 Hornet multi-role aircraft introduced by McDonnell Douglas.
Here’s what The Aviationist’s David Cenciotti wrote last summer when reporting about an F/A-18E of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146 assigned to the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) that departed the runway during an emergency landing at Bahrain International Airport on Aug. 12, 2017 (the pilot successfully ejected):
Dealing with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet, four aircraft were lost (fortunately resulting in 0 fatalities) including the one lost last week: two VFA-211 F/A-18F jets from NAS Oceana collided and crashed 25 miles E of the Oregon Inlet, Nags Head, NC on May 26, 2016; earlier this year, on Apr. 21, 2017, a VFA-137 F/A-18E crashed during a landing attempt on USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Celebes sea, between Indonesia and the Philippines.
Legacy Hornets are crashing at an even more alarming rate: two U.S. Marine Corps F-18 Hornets from MCAS Miramar crashed on Nov. 9, 2016 near San Diego. Another F/A-18C crashed near USMC Air Ground Combat Cente, Twentynine Palms, on Oct. 25, 2016. A U.S. Navy F/A-18C belonging to the Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, Detachment Fallon, crashed on Aug. 2, 2016, 10NM to the south of NAS Fallon. On Jul. 27, 2016 a USMC F/A-18 belonging to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed during a night strafing run on a weapons range near Twentynine Palms (killing the pilot). On Jun. 2 a Blue Angels Hornet crashed after taking off from Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport (KMQY), Smyrna, Tennessee: the only pilot on board was killed in the incident.
Aircraft may crash for a variety of reasons, not always technical ones. Still, the rate of Hornet crashes in the last years seems to be unusual and, as such, concerning.
According to a report published in September 2016 by Stars and Stripes, since 2012, the number of major Navy and Marine Hornet and Super Hornet accidents have increased by 44 percent as a consequence of sequestration and subsequent cuts in flight hours for training at home.
The Super Hornet incident in Bahrain was the second involving a Super Hornet in 2017, the fourth one since May 2016. But it was not the last one. In October 2017, a Spanish EF-18 Hornet, belonging to the Ala 12, crashed during take off from its homebase at Torrejon Air Base, near Madrid, killing the pilot. Then, in January this year, a Royal Australian Air Force EA-18G Growler, the electronic warfare variant of the Super Hornet, caught fire during take-off at Nellis AFB, Nevada while participating in the Red Flag 18-1 combat training exercise. Both crew members were uninjured in the incident.
BTW, we have also published an ebook on the A-10 Thunderbolt titled “BRRRTTT…deployments, war chronicles and stories of the last A-10 Warthogs” that is now available in paperback version on Amazon.
Please use the search feature on the site or select the proper category/tag to read all what we have written throughout the last year.
The two jets almost overlap (the Su-27 is farther, the F-16 is closer to the camera), during a dogfight inside Area 51.
Jan. 06 2017
You don’t happen to see a Su-27 Flanker dogfighting with a F-16 unless you visit Area 51. Here are the amazing photographs taken near Groom Lake, on Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. election day.
The photographs in this post were taken from Tikaboo Valley, near Groom Lake, Nevada, by Phil Drake, who was lucky enough to observe a Su-27P Flanker-B dogfighting with an F-16, presumably one of the four Groom Lake based -D models in the skies of the famous Area 51.
Although the quality of the pictures is low (the aircraft were flying between 20K and 30K feet) they are extremely interesting since Flankers operating from Groom are not a secret (they have been documented in 2003 – 2004 and more recently between 2012 and 2014) but have rarely been photographed.
Here’s Phil’s report of the rare sighting:
“The date was November 8th, US election day, and the sighting was between 1500 and 1525.
I was visiting Nevada hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the latest defense programmes being tested.
On the Monday and Wednesday, Nellis Aggressor F-15s and F-16s were regularly overhead, dropping flares and sonic booms. It was Tuesday afternoon when the skies went quiet for a couple of hours, and I hoped this may be a sign of something unusual being flown.
Eventually the sound of jet noise caught my attention, and I scanned the clear blue skies ’til I saw the tiny speck of an approaching military jet at high altitude, leaving an intermittent contrail.
It was instantly recognisable as a Russian built Sukhoi 27 Flanker, and carried no national insignia or identifying marks.
The WC-135 nuke sniffer (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz)
Feb. 19 2017
The USAF WC-135C Constant Phoenix might be investigating a spike in radioactive levels in Norway. Someone speculates the release of this radionuclide could be the effect of a Russian nuclear test.
On Feb. 17, 2017, U.S. Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion “sniffer,” serial number 62-3582, using radio callsign “Cobra 55” deployed to RAF Mildenhall, UK.
As we have already reported the WC-135 is a derivative of the Boeing C-135 transport and support plane. Two of these aircraft are in service today out of the ten examples operated since 1963. The aircraft are flown by flight crews from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron from Offutt Air Force Base while mission crews are staffed by Detachment 1 from the Air Force Technical Applications Center.
The WC-135, known as the “sniffer” or “weather bird” by its crews, can carry up to 33 personnel. However, crew compliments are kept to a minimum during mission flights in order to lessen levels of radioactive exposure.
Effluent gasses are gathered by two scoops on the sides of the fuselage, which in turn trap fallout particles on filters. The mission crews have the ability to analyze the fallout residue in real-time, helping to confirm the presence of nuclear fallout and possibly determine the characteristics of the warhead involved.
The F-313 during taxi tests (highlighted the main differences since the first appearance in 2013).
Apr. 15 2017
A new prototype of the weird Qaher 313 stealth jet has conducted taxi tests.
Footage and photographs showing a new prototype (marked “08”) of the famous Qaher F-313 stealth fighter jet have just emerged as Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani participated Saturday in an exhibition displaying the achievements that the Defense Ministry Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan gained during the past two years.
Indeed, an “upgraded version” of the “faux stealth fighter” can be observed performing taxi tests. The aircraft appears to be slightly different from the one unveiled on Feb. 2, 2013, that was nothing more than a poorly designed mock-up that would never fly unless it was extensively modified and heavily improved.
Four years ago, the cockpit was basic for any modern plane, the air intakes appeared to be too small, the engine section lacked any kind of nozzle meaning that the engine would probably melt the aircraft’s back-end. Above all, the aircraft was way too small to such an extent its cockpit could not fit a normal-sized human being.
The new prototype retains the original weird shape but has a more realistic cockpit, large enough to accommodate an Iranian test pilot on an ejection seat, with a “normal” canopy (the previous one was clearly made of plexiglass), and a dorsal antenna. It is equipped with dual exhaust nozzles: according to some sources these are U.S. engines, according to others these would be new turbofan engines or modified Iranian J-85s. And, interestingly, a sort of FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) turret was attached to the nose of the aircraft, that also features a white radome.
Although the new prototype is not a complete joke as its predecessor, it is still pretty hard to say whether it will be able to take to the air and land safely without further modifications: the intakes continue to appear smaller than normal (as commented back in 2013, they remind those of current drones/unmanned combat aerial vehicles); the wing are small as well and feature the peculiar design with the external section canted downward whose efficiency is not clear.
ATFLIR footage of a mysterious object intercepted by USN F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2004.
Dec. 12 2017
This video shows the weird object as seen from a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet’s ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) pod. What is it? Any idea?
Back in 2007, a user (cometa2) of the popular Above Top Secret (ATS) forum posted an alleged official CVW-11 Event Summary of a close encounter occurred on Nov. 14, 2004. Back then, when the encounter had not been confirmed yet, many users questioned the authenticity of both the event log and the footage allegedly filmed during the UFO intercept. More than 10 years later, with an officially released video of the encounter, it’s worth having a look at that unverified event log again: although we can’t say for sure whether it is genuine or not, it is at least “realistic” and provides some interesting details and narrative consistent with the real carrier ops. Moreover, the summary says that the callsign of the aircraft involved in the encounter is Fast Eagle: this callsign is used by the VFA-41 Black Aces – incidentally the very same squadron of David Fravor, formed Co of VFA-41, the pilot who recalled the encounter to NYT.
The famous shot of the inverted flying F-4 Phantom (the aircraft was actually ending a barrel roll).
Dec. 04 2017
“Because I was….inverted!”: Top Gun stunt performed near a Russian strategic bomber.
In the last few years, we have often reported about “unsafe and unprofessional” intercepts conducted across the world by Russian (and Chinese) fighter jets scrambled to identify and escort U.S. spyplanes flying in international airspace.
Barrel rolls, aggressive turns that disturbed the controllability of the “zombie” (intercepted aircraft in fighter pilot’s jargon), inverted flight: if you use the search function on this site you can read of several such incidents that made the news on media all around the world.
The last episode involved a Russian Su-30 that crossed within 50 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon’s path over the Black Sea during an intercept mission, causing the American maritime patrol aircraft to endure violent turbulence, on Nov. 25, 2017.
However, as a former RC-135 aircraft commander who flew the S, U, V, W, and X models, told us a couple of years ago:
“Prior to the end of the Cold War interceptors from a variety of nations managed to get into tight formation with RC-135s and EP-3s. Smaller airplanes like MiG-21s made it easy. The challenge with the larger airplanes like the Su-27 and MiG-31 is the sheer size of the interceptor as it moves in front of any portion of the intercepted plane.
At least the Su-27 pilot has excellent all-around visibility to see where the back-end of his own airplane is as he maneuvers adjacent to the RC-135.
The U-Boat crew took video of the intercept, which has not been released but shows the precise extent of how close the FLANKER really was. Recent movies taken by a PRC aircraft that was intercepted by a JASDF F-15CJ suggests that the Eagle was very close—until the camera zooms out and shows the Eagle was 70-100 feet away from the wingtip….
Finally, although the number of Russian reactions to Western recon flights has been increasing recently, for 15-20 years (certainly from 1992 through 2010) there were almost no reactions on a regular basis. As such, what passes for dangerous and provocative today was ho-hum to recon crews of my generation (although we weren’t shot at like the early fliers from 1950-1960).”
Boeing’s MQ-25 unmanned aircraft system has been unveiled.
After teasing its shape with a mysterious tweet that included a photograph of an aircraft under protective cover on Dec. 14, as planned, Boeing has unveiled a better (still, partial) view of its submission to the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned carrier aviation air system competition (UCAAS).
Through its MQ-25 competition (with final proposals due on Jan. 3, 2018), the U.S. Navy plans to procure unmanned refueling capabilities that would extend the combat range of deployed Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters. The UCAAS will operate from both land bases and the flight deck of its Nimitz- and future Ford-class aircraft carriers, seamlessly integrating with a carrier’s catapult and launch and recovery systems. The induction of the new tanker drone will offload some aerial refueling duties from the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet.
“Boeing has been delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for almost 90 years,” said Don ‘BD’ Gaddis, a retired admiral who leads the refueling system program for Boeing’s Phantom Works technology organization, in a company public release. “Our expertise gives us confidence in our approach. We will be ready for flight testing when the engineering and manufacturing development contract is awarded.”
According to Boeing the UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) is completing engine runs before heading to the flight ramp for deck handling demonstrations early next year.
The Navy issued its final request for proposals in October. Proposals are due Jan. 3.
With Northrop Grumman withdrawing from the competition in October 2017, Boeing, General Atomics, and Lockheed Martin are the three aerospace company competing for the initial development contract. The U.S. Navy has a requirement for 72 tanker drones, even though the service will initially only buy four examples of the winning design in order to assess whether the winner will be able to meet all the requirements before handing out any larger production deals.
The Social Media Sensation from Last Week’s Penis Drawn in the Sky Isn’t the First.
The opportunity for puns and social media memes from last week’s giant penis drawn in the sky by Navy pilots over Okanogan Highlands in Washington state was massive. But despite the jokes that spread like wildfire on social media and the opportunity for tongue-in-cheek headlines, the U.S. Navy isn’t laughing.
You likely already know from social media feeds that an EA-18G Growler from Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130) “The Zappers”, of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is responsible for the giant phallic contrail executed with remarkable accuracy, and no small measure of masculine embellishment. But the spread of the now famous photos across Facebook, Instagram and every other contributory media comes at a terrible time for the U.S. Navy and for the military in general.
An EA-18G Growler of Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130), “The Zappers” of NAS Whidbey Island who drew the inappropriate contrail. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
Media reports indicate the pilots responsible have been grounded from flight operations pending the outcome of an official investigation.
Last week the U.S. Air Force celebrated its 70th birthday at the Aviation Nation Air & Space Expo at Nellis AFB in Nevada. The theme for the expo was “Breaking Barriers since 1947” and showcased the gender inclusive doctrine of the U.S. Air Force across all of its job fields. For the U.S. Navy to suffer this very public embarrassment is contradictory to the official message of inclusion and non-discrimination the other services, like the U.S. Air Force, have spent millions portraying to the public. In effect, one incident by one flight crew sent a sexist message that reached more people via social media than the massive, official public affairs efforts of the other services including the Air Force that espouse gender inclusion.
Social media spread thousands of memes about the incident to millions of viewers. (Photo: Tom Demerly/TheAviationist from Social Media Outlets)
But this isn’t the first time inappropriate contrails have created an uproar. In November 2014, the Royal Air Force suffered a similar embarrassment when a photo was widely shared that showed phallic-shaped contrails in the sky over RAF Lossiemouth on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. The Lossiemouth incident was, in fact, a valid navigational track of a Tornado fighter flying a relatively standard traffic pattern. The incident was more hype than reality and ran in tabloid British newspapers, often known for their sensational content, especially on a slow news day. More recently, in July 2017, a RAF Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby flew what on Flightradar24 seemed to be a phallic route.
The U.S. Navy suffered another, more tangible, embarrassment from sexist misconduct with their Blue Angels demo team in 2014.
The incidents resulted in an official report dated May 16, 2014. The official documents surrounding an investigation of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team, The Blue Angels, stated that the “Commanding Officer witnessed, accepted and encouraged behavior that, while juvenile and sophomoric in the beginning, ultimately and in the aggregate, became destructive, toxic and hostile. The Blue Angels’ Ready Room environment under his command ran counter to established Navy standards and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and dramatically weakened good order and discipline in the squadron.”
Any mention of gender-based misconduct in the U.S. Navy ultimately raises conversation about the 1991 Tailhook Scandal.
The Tailhook Scandal resulted in an official investigation that cited over 80 cases of sexual misconduct by U.S. Navy officers and personnel. The scandal became so widespread throughout the Navy that reports indicate the careers of 14 admirals and “almost 300 naval aviators” were compromised by the incidents.
As with every story, however, there are several perspectives that influence the public perception of the Whidbey Island Penis-Pilots. The U.S. is experiencing a noteworthy increase in the number of sexual misconduct allegations in the media against politicians. They include the current U.S. President. A potential danger with the proliferation of both genuine and spurious claims of sexual misconduct is that people become desensitized to the reports. That creates a dangerous environment where serious, genuine misconduct may go undetected.
There is a further potential anomaly to the story of the inappropriate sky-writing pilots. As proved by the memes about the incidents posted on social media, few people have considered the admittedly remote possibility that one or both of the flight crew responsible for the November 16 skywriting incident last week may have been female. The two crew members involved in the incident have not been identified. While the statistical likelihood is that both members are male gender pilots based on what is likely the ratio of male to female aircrew members at Electronic Attack Squadron 130, there does remain the extremely remote possibility, based strictly on the fact that some female EA-18G pilots do exist in the Navy. At least one female EA-18G pilot was at Whidbey Island that we know of in 2013, albeit in another unit; VAQ-129 as opposed to VAQ-130, the unit attributed to the recent sky-penis.
When we tried to find current pilot rosters for Electronic Attack Squadron 130 (VAQ-130), the unit involved in the recent November 16, 2017 incident, we could not locate a current listing to see the number of female pilots in the unit. We were, however, easily able to find record of female EA-18G Growler pilots in the U.S. Navy. One media source, published in July 2013 by the Rapid City Journal and written by staff correspondent Molly Barari cited the career of a (then) Lt. j.g. who said she had not experienced any differential treatment because she’s a woman: “Male or female, you need to have a thick enough skin to accept a lot of criticism.”
Finally, while the official, and practical doctrine of all U.S. military services must be gender equality, this incident perpetuates the lore of the fighter pilot, male and female, as a rule-bending renegade who often flies and fights at the outer limits of acceptable norms. While there is an element of sensation in this image, there is also the history or impropriety and misconduct. To this day, the military services struggle to moderate the extremes of daring-do and wanton sexism unacceptable in any culture.
Top image: The original photo shared widely across social media. (Photo: Tom Demerly/TheAviationist from Social Media Outlets)
C-2 Greyhound COD confirmed involved in the crash.
According to the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet, a United States Navy C-2A aircraft belonging to VRC-30 “Providers” carrying 11 crew and passengers crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time on Nov. 22.
“Personnel recovery is underway and their condition will be evaluated by USS Ronald Reagan medical staff. The aircraft was en-route to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), which is currently operating in the Philippine Sea. USS Ronald Reagan is conducting search and rescue operations. The cause of the crash is not known at this time.”
160707-N-NF288-020 SOUTH CHINA SEA (July 7, 2016) Distinguished visitors from Cambodia land on the flight deck of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Ronald Reagan, the Carrier Strike Group Five (CSG 5) flagship, is on patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jamaal Liddell/Release
The official release did not initially specify the type nor the unit of the aircraft involved in the crash. However, it seemed immediately quite reasonable to believe it is a C-2 Greyhound involved in a COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) mission. Indeed, the Grumman C-2A Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft, designed perform the COD mission to carry equipment, passengers (including occasional distinguished visitors) supplies and mail to and from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, “ensuring victory at sea through logistics.”
8 out 11 people on board have been found. SAR operation underway to find and rescue the missing ones.
According to the U.S. Navy:
Eight personnel were recovered by the “Golden Falcons” of U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC 12). The eight personnel were transferred to USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) for medical evaluation and are in good condition at this time.
“Our entire focus is on finding all of our Sailors,” said Rear Adm. Marc H. Dalton, Commander, Task Force 70. “U.S. and Japanese ships and aircraft are searching the area of the crash, and we will be relentless in our efforts.”
USS Ronald Reagan is leading search and rescue efforts with the following ships and aircraft: U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG 63); MH-60R Seahawk helicopters of the “Saberhawks” from U.S. Navy Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM 77); P-8 aircraft from the “Fighting Tigers” of U.S. Navy Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron (VP) 8; P-3 Orion aircraft of the “Red Hook” U.S. Navy Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron (VP) 40; Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Helicopter Carrier Japan Ship (JS) Kaga (DDH 184); and JMSDF Hatakaze-class destroyer Japan Ship (JS) Shimakaze (DDG 172).
This is the 6th C-2 lost since the type entered active service (a prototype YC-2A was lost on Apr. 29, 1965, during a test flight resulting in 4 fatalities):
On Oct. 2, 1969, C-2A BuNo 152796 from VRC-50, carrying 6 crew members and 21 passengers crashed in the Gulf of Tonkin en route from Naval Air Station Cubi Point to USS Constellation in the Gulf of Tonkin. All the 27 POB were killed but since their bodies were never recovered, they are listed as MIA (Missing In Action).
On Dec. 15, 1970, C-2A BuNo 155120 from VRC-50 crashed shortly after launch from USS Ranger, killing all 9 POB (4 crew members and 5 passengers).
On Dec. 12 1971, C-2A BuNo 152793 crashed en route from Cubi Point to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, resulting in the death of all 4 crew members and 6 passengers.
On Jan. 29, C-2A BuNo 155122 crashed while attempting to land on the USS Independence in the Mediterranean Sea, killing both crewmen.
On 16 November 1973, C-2A BuNo 152787 crashed into the sea after takeoff from Souda Bay, Crete. 7 of 10 POB died in the incident.
We will update this story as new details are made available.
In 2000, the C-2 began Service Life-Extension Program (SLEP) installations, which included improvements such as structural enhancements, dual ARC-210 radios, the Terrain-Awareness Warning System, the Traffic Collision-Avoidance System and a rewire of the aircraft to remove older and potentially hazardous Kapton wiring. Eight-blade NP2000 propellers were installed in 2010-2011. The Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system features components that expanded the aircraft’s communications capability by increasing the number of usable radio frequencies, therefore reducing channel congestion. As part of the navigation upgrade, a system combining Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment and an inertial navigation system were integrated to provide accurate positioning and velocity, allowing flight crews to perform precise landing approaches.
Top image: file photo of a C-2 Greyhound
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