VFA-147 ramp strike

[PRB]

Well, this isn't pretty. This happened 24 Jan 2022. Apparently several flight deck crew injured, but no deaths. Took only seconds to get the fire hoses going.

OT: This is my old squadron, now flying F-35s.

 

[TARPSBird]

I doubt the pilot had more than one swing in the chute before he hit the water. Good thing the jet didn't flip and fireball like that A-7 ramp strike on Midway in 1984 or he would've been SOL.

 

[Mike71]

Boy, he must have really sucked power off at some point around the lineup call - dramatic settle in close!

 

[TARPSBird]

Boy, he must have really sucked power off at some point around the lineup call - dramatic settle in close!

Mike, I was thinking the same thing. Saw a F-8 driver do something similar aboard Hancock in 1970... You even heard him pull off the power, fortunately he cleared the ramp before he plopped down on deck. Collapsed the nose gear and "modified" the intake lip. Nose wheel went bouncing down the deck, narrowly missed a couple guys.

 

[PRB]

It doesn't take long to go bad. When I was in VFA-147 (1989 - 1991), one of our FA-18Cs had a ramp strike on Nimitz (amazing, no?). It happened at night. The pilot was A/A refueling and had a "basket slap" which broke off the AOA vane and the Pitot tube, resulting in no AOA or airspeed display on the HUD. His landing was almost perfect... The PLAT video showed him dead on centered in the cross hairs until the last second or so. He managed to only slice off the right main. The plane, minus the pilot, but still in full AB, caught a wire, and hung there until the crash & smash crew was able to get up there and shut off the engines. No fire. The only injury was the pilot, who landed on the flight deck in his chute, and broke his arm. This F-35 ramp strike was about as bad as one of those can go.

 

[PRB]

There is another video of this. Taken from the fantail. This video actually "leaked" first, and from this one, it didn't look so bad. You can clearly hear the power come up at the end. Too late...

 

[Mike71]

Mike, I was thinking the same thing. Saw a F-8 driver do something similar aboard Hancock in 1970... You even heard him pull off the power, fortunately he cleared the ramp before he plopped down on deck. Collapsed the nose gear and "modified" the intake lip. Nose wheel went bouncing down the deck, narrowly missed a couple guys.

On SARA in the mid 70s, I saw a terrible night RA-5C strike, killed the pilot and RAN. I wound up on the accident board. It was rough seas, pitch and heave well over 10 feet - for a Vig, that is almost impossible to cope with.

When I was Mini Boss on NIMITZ we had an ARG purchase cable part on an F-14 at night, luckily both punched in time. Always expect the unexpected!

 

[udidwht]

Recall that mishap on the Nimitz was with 146 (AD-2).

 

[PRB]

Recall that mishap on the Nimitz was with 146 (AD-2).

Here's a pic I shot of the plane involved, stashed behind the island. Note the right side of the a/c, sans main gear mount, held up by a stack of pallets. Yes, it was ours... (VFA-147)