T-45 crashes tied to birds, engine malfunction

[unhappycamper]

Two recent crashes have been attributed to bird strikes.


T-45 crashes tied to birds, engine malfunction
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 10, 2008 15:40:40 EST

In the past few years, major mishaps involving the T-45 Goshawk trainer jet were rare — just one or two a year on average from 2004 to 2007, Navy records show.

But that spiked to five crashes in the nine months from September 2007 to May 2008.

In each case, the pilots ejected and were not seriously injured, but the $21 million planes, which joined the fleet starting in 1991, were destroyed.

Based on accident investigations, no one was officially faulted in at least three of those crashes. One was caused by an engine malfunction, and two others crashed after striking birds that were then sucked into the engines.

As a result of the bird strikes, officials with Chief of Naval Air Training Command installed a land-based radar system designed to tell pilots about any birds in the landing strip area, a CNATRA spokesman said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/11/navy_goshawks_111008/%2e