ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 208798
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| Date: | Wednesday 4 April 2018 |
| Time: | 10:29 LT |
| Type: |  General Dynamics F-16CM-52D Fighting Falcon |
| Owner/operator: | AD Sqn Thunderbirds USAF |
| Registration: | 91-0413 |
| MSN: | CC-111 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Nevada Test and Training Range, NV -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Las Vegas-Nellis AFB, NV (LSV/KLSV) |
| Las Vegas-Nellis AFB, NV (LSV/KLSV) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 4 April 2018, the pilot, flying a F-16CM-52D, tail number 91-0413, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the "Thunderbirds," 57th Wing, Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada (NV), engaged in a routine aerial demonstration training flight at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) near Creech AFB, NV. During the training flight, at approximately 10:29 local time, the mishap aircraft impacted the ground and fatally injured the pilot, without an ejection attempt.
The mishap mission was planned and authorized as a practice of a Thunderbirds aerial demonstration in the south part of the NTTR. The mishap flight was a formation of six F-16CMs (Thunderbirds #1-6), the standard Thunderbirds aerial demonstration flight. Thunderbird #4 was the mishap aircraft. During the High Bomb Burst Rejoin, an aerial maneuver near the scheduled end of the aerial demonstration training flight, the pilot flew the aircraft for approximately 22 seconds in inverted flight between 5,500 and 5,700 feet above ground level. During this time, the pilot experienced a change in force due to acceleration measured in multiples of the acceleration of gravity felt at the earth’s surface (G), between -0.5 to -2.06 G’s. While experiencing -2.06 G’s in inverted flight, the pilot initiated a descending half-loop maneuver (Split-S). After five seconds in the Split-S, the pilot attained a maximum +8.56 G’s. The pilot experienced G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) and absolute incapacitation at the end of that five-second period.
For approximately the next five seconds, the MP remained in a state of absolute incapacitation and made no deliberate flight control inputs as the MA accelerated toward the ground. Approximately one second prior to ground impact, the pilot began deliberate flight control inputs as he transitioned from absolute to relative incapacitation. The aircraft impacted the ground at 57 degrees nose low with 89 degrees of left bank and the pilot was fatally injured on impact, without an ejection attempt.
The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) President found by a preponderance of evidence the cause of the mishap was the pilot's G-LOC during the Split-S portion of the High Bomb Burst Rejoin maneuver. Additionally, the AIB President found by a preponderance of evidence two factors substantially contributed to the mishap:
(a) the pilot’s diminished tolerance to +G’s induced by the physiology of the pilot’s exposure to –G’s (“Push-Pull Effect”) and
(b) an associated decrease in
the effectiveness of the MP’s Anti-G straining maneuver under those conditions
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nellis-plane-crash-20180404-story.html
http://www.nellis.af.mil/About/Press-Releases/Display/Article/1484960/aircraft-accident-on-nevada-test-and-training-range/
http://www.nellis.af.mil/About/Press-Releases/Display/Article/1485146/thunderbirds-aircraft-mishap/
http://web.archive.org/web/20180408081250/http://www.nellis.af.mil/About/Press-Releases/Display/Article/1485678/thunderbirds-pilot-identified/
http://www.f-16.net/aircraft-database/F-16/airframe-profile/3773/
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/f-16cm-thunderbird-investigation-of-fatal-crash-rele-452748/
____________
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wfm_area51_map_en.png
Media:
Air Force finds Thunderbird No. 4, Maj. Del Bagno, experienced G-induced loss of consciousness during a spilt S maneuver, causing April 4's crash. AIB report released today: pic.twitter.com/v1HwMOqhRA
— Brian Everstine (@beverstine) October 16, 2018
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Apr-2018 00:23 | Geno | Added |
| 05-Apr-2018 06:01 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Source] |
| 05-Apr-2018 06:01 | sinfu2a | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Source, Damage] |
| 05-Apr-2018 08:00 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 05-Apr-2018 11:22 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 05-Apr-2018 11:22 | Aerossurance | Updated [Other fatalities] |
| 05-Apr-2018 19:45 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 06-Apr-2018 06:04 | sinfu2a | Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2018 16:23 | Aerossurance | Updated [Registration, Narrative] |
| 16-Oct-2018 16:48 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code, Narrative] |
| 16-Oct-2018 17:42 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code] |
| 16-Oct-2018 17:43 | Aerossurance | Updated [Registration, Embed code] |
| 16-Oct-2018 17:55 | harro | Updated [Time, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 16-Oct-2018 19:30 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Oct-2018 19:33 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 25-Dec-2019 20:30 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 08-Feb-2020 18:06 | Iwosh | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 17-May-2020 09:49 | RobertMB | Updated [Cn] |
| 17-May-2020 09:52 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 17-May-2020 09:54 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
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