Unspecified Manned Aircraft Down at Holloman AFB

a reply to: anzha

When they say things like "More will be released on the second crew member as it is available" that generally means they either didn't survive, or are badly hurt and have life threatening injuries.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Noted. I had wondered if that was normal military terminology.

a reply to: Zaphod58
or they couldn't notify family members in a certain time frame.

a reply to: JIMC5499

Illegitimi non carborundum

2017 Moody A-29 crash.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Pilot killed was a naval aviator:

www.navy.mil...

The Air Force has suspended the OA-X program, and is examining the data collected to this point to determine the way to move forward.

www.flightglobal.com...

Air Force pulls trigger on OA-X (LAA).

I remember when the accident happened and little information was released. I hadn't realized it was a A-29 in testing.
I'm glad to hear it didn't cause the program to be canceled, and that they plan to move ahead with acquisitions.

The little kid in me hates this program, as I go back to my 5-year-old self first seeing the F117 and it becoming the face of the first Gulf War. Made my heart pump, and my child-self proud to be an American. Same with the B2, F22, and thinking of our other black projects and bleeding edge tech.

The poor, broken, adult me now admits that most of the environments we're likely to be involved, we'll be fighting guys hiding in caves using donkeys as transports. It doesn't make financial sense to spend 500+ mill per aircraft when a Cessna-150 flying slow, cheaply produced & maintained in harsh climates, that contains the needed sensor suite and electronics upgrades, and has a couple hellfires /GBU-39s under the wings fits the need.

Maybe saving the cash on a fleet of low-cost, easily maintained, aircraft for low threat areas will free up the funds for use in other areas. Keep the cool toys for the rare cases they are needed, the first week of aggression, if the air is contested, etc. Use the saved cash to maintain the fleet of expensive aircraft currently held together with gum and glue. Maybe buy a few more primary weapon systems use in a high-intensity conflict.

Now let's just hope military purchasing doesn't find a way to make these aircraft cost the same as a F-16/FA-18....

~Winter

The mishap was caused when the aircraft entered a right roll after releasing a GBU-12 from the left wing. The pilot input right aileron, which exacerbated the right roll that the aircraft went into in response to the weapons release. The manual calls for countering the roll with left aileron, but the pilot input 21% right aileron, 36% right rudder, and 18% nose up elevator, putting the aircraft into a spiral. They made four separate recovery attempts, resulting in the aircraft going into a roll that ultimately resulted in 248 degrees per second, a yaw of 49.3 degrees per second, 6.67 Gs, and a 30,000 fpm sink rate over the last 5 recorded seconds.

Due to an issue with the seats when operated in AFT mode, the manual states that the seats are to be operated in SINGLE mode, meaning each pilot has to pull the handle to initiate the ejection process for their seat. Martin Baker released a fix for the issue, and the seat in this aircraft had undergone the modification when built. The Mishap Weapons System Officer initiated his ejection at approximately 8600 feet, five seconds before impact. The Mishap Pilot initiated his ejection 3-5 seconds later, but the process was interrupted and he was killed instantly, when the aircraft impacted the ground.

A-29 crash Holloman.

Damn hate to see the recreation 3D video of that

The 2020 budget includes $34M for OA-X, and plans to buy several examples of the AT-6 and A-29.

www.defensenews.com...