U.S. Air Force F-15C crashes in Virginia

a reply to: 727Sky

They can fly forever, unless they have a manufacturing defect in their primary structure. Then you can maintain them better than any other aircraft out there, and they'll still come apart at some point in time.

a reply to: buddah6

The F-22 accident could have happened to any airplane out there. There was an electrical fire caused by the left hand generator failing.

originally posted by: Kangaruex4Ewe
This is not very far from my humble abode and what's odd is the fact that the night before this we had some low flying jets roll through here pretty late in the evening. They were so low, I thought my windows were going to shake right out of the house. I made a comment to my husband that there has been a ton of jet traffic coming through recently... A lot more than usual.

Although I love conspiracy theories, I am usually not one to question something like that and assume aliens or secret agendas right off the bat. And we do get the occasional fly through because it is Virginia.

But it's been more traffic lately than I remember in my 37 years on this planet.

I wonder now if this was one I heard fly over and I would really like to know what happened to cause it to crash. What I wrote off as odd, now has my curiosity going nuts. Is there anything weird going on? Probably not, but your imagination sure likes to wander when something like this occurs.

Past few days here in NYC, I've see very high altitude flights at speed, heading south. Not sure if these are connected in any way, but they appeared to be military and not civilian.

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

If they were low, then this wasn't one of them you heard. He was flying above 30,000 feet when this happened.

There's nothing unusual going on, except some training, and some testing of new aircraft. F-35 testing is ramping up with the carrier trials about to start, as well as the X-47 flying off the carrier. Both are at Pax River near DC doing testing. There are a lot of new aircraft in testing and development.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: buddah6

The F-22 accident could have happened to any airplane out there. There was an electrical fire caused by the left hand generator failing.

True, what I was saying is military flying is more dangerous for nothing more than the jobs they do and not because military aircraft are faulty. In fact, military aircraft are more stringently tested than civil aircraft. I've never seen a Cessna 152 do DACT then shoot a 200' and a half mile IFR landing... If you know what I'm saying?

a reply to: buddah6

Yeah, I know what you're saying, and I agree. Just pointing out that particular accident could have happened to a Cessna, or anything else.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Agreed!

anyone know why the pilot didnt eject from the plane ?

originally posted by: buntalanlucu
anyone know why the pilot didnt eject from the plane ?

It's possible he did and still die.

a reply to: buntalanlucu

Most likely it broke up mid flight.

originally posted by: B2StealthBomber
a reply to: buntalanlucu

Most likely it broke up mid flight.

what ??? an aircraft like F15 dont just broke up in flight except if it exceed max structural limit..

hmm maybe the quality of these old F15 are suspect since they are practically ancient flying machines..

a reply to: buntalanlucu

Obviously you haven't been paying attention lately. They're over thirty years old. That's thirty years of high speed, high G maneuvering. What do you think happens to structures after three decades of that kind of abuse?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: buntalanlucu

Obviously you haven't been paying attention lately. They're over thirty years old. That's thirty years of high speed, high G maneuvering. What do you think happens to structures after three decades of that kind of abuse?

im not aircraft mechanic, but tell me if a plane reached certain age where metal fatigue is too much, why then there is no retirement ? i dont think USAF is that unprofessional in aircraft maintenance.. heck they practically retired whole fleet of airworthy A10...

as for old age, i thought the B52 is even more older than these fighters.. if B52 still practice low level penetration they their age should diminished faster..

a reply to: buntalanlucu

When does a B-52 pull 9Gs? Or even 2 or 3Gs for that matter. They can't retire the F-15 without something to replace it, because by law they have to have a certain number of aircraft on the books, and Congress has to approve any retirement, or replacement.

originally posted by: buntalanlucu

originally posted by: B2StealthBomber
a reply to: buntalanlucu

Most likely it broke up mid flight.

what ??? an aircraft like F15 dont just broke up in flight except if it exceed max structural limit..

hmm maybe the quality of these old F15 are suspect since they are practically ancient flying machines..

Flight load limits are for a new airplane that hasn't been subject to years of combat maneuvering. Have you bent a metal beer tab back and forth until it broke? With each bend the metal becomes weaker until it does breaks. Airplanes are the same even in the cruise phase of flight. In level cruise flight the plane is also subjected to various stresses and loads by conditions like clear air turbulence (CAT).

Airplane are designed to withstand a certain amount of turbulence by restricting it's airspeed. This is called it's maneuvering speed (Va) where the plane will stall rather breaking while in flight. The cruise speed is usually greater than it's maneuvering speed, however. If the pilot encountered rough air, he would slow down to his maneuvering speed until he could safely speed up. My best analogy is like driving on a gravel road and coming to some pot holes. The first thing you do is to slow down until you have smooth road again.

Accidents are usually not just one problem but several at once. We will never know exactly what happened just the end result. Everything else is just educated speculation where no flight recorders are carried. The pilot was highly experienced combat aviator and should be able handle anything he would encounter. For this reason, I believe that the plane experienced an "instant catastrophic failure" meaning the F15 broke-up in flight.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: buntalanlucu
anyone know why the pilot didnt eject from the plane ?

It's possible he did and still die.

The F 15 has an ACES2 ejction system IIRC. It's the best last chance system that we have that I know of! It allows the pilot to eject inverted as low as a few hundred feet. It's designed to bail out at high altitudes and retain the pilot in the seat down to a altitude where he can breathe after a safe opening at around 15K feet. For these reasons, I believe that the airplane broke up at altitude trapping or incapacitating the pilot.

a reply to: buddah6

The ACES II is one of the best, but there are several ways he could have gotten out and been fatally injured. In this case though, from early reports, the seat was found in the debris.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I know that ejections are not always successful in one way or another. I was saying that the pilot's chances were better with the ACES 2 than other varieties.

If the seat was found in the wreckage that would give credence to my theory about an event happened that kept him in the airplane at altitude. The crash site photos show a circular impact area indicating a vertical or near vertical descent. Next question is why does a fighter plane descent vertically from FL300 with the pilot on-board? Was a mayday made?

a reply to: buddah6

He declared an emergency before contact was lost, but they haven't said what the problem was.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Didn't the F 15E, that was out of Langley AFB, experience a control failure at altitude several years back?