Come fly with me.

[trof]

I used to do stuff like this.
'Master of the Universe'.
And bulletproof.
:eyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4vrV-pbJ8g

[Ptah]

1. half way through this 0:51 youtube, you'll see a couple of B-52 low passes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7aLEKBlhNk

:scared:

[trof]

2. I saw a scene exactly like that in real life.

Trans International DC-8 at JFK Sept. 8, 1970.

Narrative:
The DC-8 freighter started rotating in a nose-high attitude 1500 feet into the take-off. After becoming airborne at 2800 feet down the runway, the aircraft climbed to about 300-500 feet, rolled 20 degrees to the left, crashed and caught fire. The loss of pitch control was caused by the entrapment of a pointed, asphalt-covered object between the leading edge of the right elevator and the right horizontal spar web access door in the aft part of the stabilizer.

PROBABLE CAUSE:
pilot in command - failed to abort takeoff
airframe - flight control surfaces: elevator assembly,attachments
miscellaneous acts,conditions - jammed
miscellaneous acts,conditions - interference with flight controls
miscellaneous - foreign material affecting normal operations
FACTORS:
pilot in command - inadequate supervision of flight
miscellaneous acts,conditions - checklist-failed to use
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19700908-1

[Ptah]

3. Wow, how did the 'asphalt-covered object' end up there?

I noticed that database doesn't cover military aircraft.

I was an avionics tech in the USAF, 1970-1974.

I was a bomb/nav system tech on the B-52, hence my interest in that Buff crash.

Here is some information I find fascinating, for the resulting safety procedure
that resulted from the investigation.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash#Conclusions

Conclusions

The accident investigation concluded that the chain of events leading to the crash was
primarily attributable to Holland's personality and behavior, USAF leaders' reactions
-- or lack thereof -- to it, and the sequence of events during the final flight of the aircraft.
Holland's disregard for procedures governing the safe operation of the B-52 aircraft that
he commanded and the absence of firm and consistent corrective action by his superior officers
allowed Holland to believe that he could conduct his last flight in an unsafe manner,
culminating with the slow, steeply banked, 360° turn around the control tower.<2>


During Holland's last flight, the other environmental factors involved, including the addition of
a new maneuver (the 360° turn around the tower), inadequate pre-flight involvement of Colonel Wolff,
and the distractions from the base shooting four days prior, combined with Holland's unsafe and
risk-taking piloting behavior to produce conditions favorable for the crash to occur. The final factor
was the 10-knot (19 km/h) wind and its effect on the maneuvers required to achieve the intended flightpath,
in relation to the ground.<2>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash#Aftermath


Although the accident investigation found that procedures and policies were supposedly
already in place to prevent such a crash from occurring again, the fact that this crash
occurred showed that in at least one instance the existing safety policies and their enforcement
had been inadequate. To re-emphasize the importance of adherence to existing safety policies
and correcting the actions of anyone who violated any of these policies at any time,
USAF quickly distributed the findings of the accident investigation throughout the service.
Today, the crash is used in both military and civilian aviation environments as a training aid in
teaching crew resource management. The crash is also often used in safety training as an
example of the importance of enforcing compliance with safety regulations.<1><15>


Here is the complete report:
http://www.crm-devel.org/resources/paper/darkblue/darkblue.htm

[trof]

7. A piece of runway. They dragged the tail. There are errors in the report.

I was taxiing out on the parallel taxiway.

What I saw:
They rotated soon after commencing takeoff roll.
Started dragging the lower aft fuselage, throwing up a rooster tail of sparks and chunks of runway.
The angle of attack continued to increase. At about 30 degrees nose up, fire shot out the front of all 4 engines.

At first they fell off on the left wing (as stated in the report) and were headed straight for us. I was in a TWA Convair 880 with a full passenger load.
They managed to get it back to wings level, attitude continuing nose up.
Then it fell off to the right and went in on the right wing with wing vertical to the ground. Practically no forward movement by then.
Crashed in a huge ball of fire directly across the runway from me.
I felt the blast concussion.
JFK was closed for hours.

What I later learned:
The TIA DC-8 was very light, carrying only cockpit and cabin crews, and fuel to DCA where they were picking up a charter group.
Co-pilot was flying. On voice recorder he was heard to say "This thing's gonna climb like a scalded ape."
Began takeoff roll with yoke full back.
Dragging tail threw up a piece of runway which lodged between elevator and vertical stabilizer. Control was jammed in full nose up.

They crammed all 4 throttle to the wall, which resulted in 4 engine rollback. That was the flames I saw.

If they hadn't corrected that first roll to the left, I wouldn't be here.

[Ptah]

8. I just wanted to say, the knowledge and skills you and av8rdave speak of amaze me.

Thanks, and I look forward to more of your experiences in the Lounge.

:thumbsup:

[av8rdave]

4. I previously worked for the DO that was court martialed over that crash

Was my squadron commander in the mid 80s.

[Ptah]

5. Was his position as DO at Fairchild a natural career progression from squadron commander? n/t

[av8rdave]

6. Usually not directly, but sometimes

He did something between the tour where I knew him and that one at Fairchild, but I can't remember what. SAC did a lot of promoting of field grade officers for no better reason than it was "time." That and most O-4s and above usually had somebody looking out for them.

I was in the civilian world by the time the thing at Fairchild went down, but had former crewmembers keeping up to date.