ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 275359
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| Date: | Thursday 10 February 2022 |
| Time: | 11:05 |
| Type: |  Dassault Mirage F1CR |
| Owner/operator: | Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) |
| Registration: | N633AX |
| MSN: | 653 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1985 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Luke Air Force Base (LUF), Glendale, AZ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Phoenix-Luke AFB, AZ (LUF/KLUF) |
| Phoenix-Luke AFB, AZ (LUF/KLUF) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On February 10, 2022, about 1105 mountain standard time, an experimental Dassault Aviation Mirage F-1 CR Turbo-jet, N633AX, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Luke Air Force Base, (LUF), Glendale, Arizona. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a public-use aircraft in support of the United States Air Force’s simulated combat flight training.
The turbo-jet airplane was being operated as a public-use aircraft in support of the United States Air Force’s simulated combat flight training at the time of the accident. The airplane took off and proceeded to the Military Operating Area (MOA) and, near the completion of the flight the pilot reported a discrepancy between the two fuel quantity indications in the cockpit. Shortly thereafter, the pilot headed back to the airport once the airplane reached its briefed minimum fuel status. While en route to the airport, the pilot reported a loss of fuel pressure and shortly afterward the engine flamed out.
The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. When the pilot determined that he could not make the runway at his destination, he turned toward an uninhabited area and successfully ejected from the airplane. Subsequently, the airplane impacted terrain.
Postaccident interviews revealed that the airplane was not fueled with the correct amount of fuel for the flight by maintenance personnel before the flight. Although the refueling forms accurately reflected the shorted amount of fuel, the error was not detected by maintenance personnel or the pilot before the airplane took off. During the flight, the pilot failed to notice that his fuel load was incorrect. The pilot relied on a fuel remaining totalizer that had been manually set to the expected full fuel load, not to the actual fuel load, and did not appropriately reference the individual fuel quantity tapes.
Postaccident examination of the airplane wreckage revealed that the airplane’s fuel tanks had loose sealant globules inside the main feeder fuel tanks and an additional piece of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) present. Additionally, the operator discovered that several of their F-1 airplanes were found with varies type of FOD in the fuel tanks, including loose pieces of fuel tank sealant, which led to fuel anomalies including issues that caused false full tank fuel indications during refueling. Once the FOD was removed, the airplanes’ fuel system anomalies that were experienced were virtually eliminated. It is possible that the FOD caused anomalies during refueling of the accident airplane and presented a false full tank indication, which contributed to the airplane not being serviced to the correct fuel load.
Probable Cause: A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as result of the failure of maintenance personnel to ensure the airplane was serviced with the correct amount of fuel, the failure of maintenance personnel and the pilot to adequately check the airplane’s paperwork to ensure the correct amount of fuel was present for the flight, and the failure of the pilot to adequately monitor the airplane’s fuel status during the flight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.the-sun.com/news/4660038/luke-air-force-base-plane-crash-arizona-today/
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/fighter-aircraft-crashes-while-on-routine-mission-near-luke-air-force-base-officials-say
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/atac-mirage-f1-crashed
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=104624
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n633ax#2ac62c0f
https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/5/68102_1607133998.jpg (photo)
Location
Media:
Breaking : military aircraft crashes in Desert in Buckeye, pilot reportedly ejected before the crash and is safe. Crash debris strewn across the desert. Waiting for an update from military police/Luke Air Force Base #fox10phoenix pic.twitter.com/BBj16DLMBG
— Nicole Garcia Fox10 (@Fox10_NicoleG) February 10, 2022
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Feb-2022 19:43 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 10-Feb-2022 21:21 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Feb-2022 22:43 | Captain Adam | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Damage] |
| 11-Feb-2022 08:02 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 02-Mar-2022 23:15 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category] |
| 14-Mar-2024 21:36 | Captain Adam | Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
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