NEWS: Fighter Aircraft Crashes in Tennessee

A military fighter aircraft went down in rural Eastern Tennessee yesterday about 10 a.m. CST (GMT -6). This was of particular interest because the crash occurred along the established test flight corridor of the F/A-22 Raptor (assembled in Marietta, GA) and because of its proximity to the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and Watts Bar Dam.

The single pilot ejected, suffering minor injuries, and the nearby nuclear plant was unaffected, although power generation from the dam was briefly interrupted. Shortly before it went down, the plane struck a cluster of power lines. A Tennessee Valley Authority spokeswoman said high-voltage lines 75 feet over the Watts Bar Lake were severed. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a boom and seeing the jet ''swerving back and forth'' as it flew with another aircraft, but Navy official refuse to speculate on the cause of the accident. Reports differ on the type of mission the aircraft was conducting, ranging from a routine navigational training mission to a return flight from a fly-over of a NASCAR race.

Navy Newsstand - www.news.navy.mil

Navy Reserve pilot Cmdr. Kevin T. Hagenstad, 36, of Marrieta, Ga., was listed in fair condition with a broken leg, at Erlanger Hospital in Chatanooga (sic), Tenn., after safely ejecting from an F/A-18A Hornet when the aircraft crashed during a training mission March 29.

The lost (NAS) Atlanta-based F/A-18A Hornet aircraft of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 203 was delivered to the Navy in 1985 at a cost of $24 million. The aircraft was scheduled to be dismantled at the end of March to be used as a static display at a naval facility in Pennsylvania.

Two fuel tanks were jettisoned into the water and leaked a small amount of fuel. They were later recovered by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

Related Stories:
The Tennessean ? FA-18 Crash
News Channel 9


[Edited on 30-3-2004 by Banshee]

[Edited on 31-3-2004 by Kano]

Originally posted by Spectre
A Tennessee Valley Authority spokeswoman said high-voltage lines 75 feet over the Watts Bar Lake were severed. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a boom and seeing the jet ''swerving back and forth'' as it flew with another aircraft, but Navy official refuse to speculate on the cause of the accident. Reports differ on the type of mission the aircraft was conducting, ranging from a routine navigational training mission to a return flight from a fly-over of a NASCAR race. [Edited on 30-3-2004 by Banshee]

What were these guys doing? Were they flying low and screwing around or what? I'm not a pilot, but it sounds to me like the pilots were messin around.

[Edited on 3-30-2004 by nyarlathotep]

What is that now, THREE fighters crashed or burned in the US in ONE WEEK !


Tennesee
California
North Carolina

I wonder what the total value of these were?!

The news article speaks of the plane "possibly" coming back from a nascar race flyover.... that's bogus.

Here's why~

The only Nascar race in that area that had US Navy clearance for an official flyover was the Food City 500 @ Bristol Motor Speedway... and that was 6 days prior to the crash... either the F-18 had some monster fuel tanks to enable it to loiter over Tennessee for 6 days or someone was feeding the news reporter a line of crap...

Originally posted by smirkley
What is that now, THREE fighters crashed or burned in the US in ONE WEEK !


Tennesee
California
North Carolina

I wonder what the total value of these were?!

Yep... all that money down the drain...

Actually intelgurl, the race was on Sunday the 28th and the crash happenned the 29th.

It is possible they stayed the night in Bristol prior to departure monday morning.

arg! you're right! I stand corrected.

but still, flying back to Atlanta same day would probably have been his standard operating procedure, they don't generally do "lay-overs" like that.

Having been to many races coast to coast it has always amazed me there havent been more accidents. Humpy Wheeler started the trend when he pulled a string of a contact in the military, for such an event many years ago. Now they have a flyover at the closing of the Anthem prior to the race beginning everywhere. Usually an awsome sight and gets the crowd worked-up well.

I have always wondered about one crashing as the flyover is usually very low with afterburners on to thrill the crowd. I have watched fighters, bombers, choppers, stealth fighters, war games in the infield, and it is awsome. The bomber was at Charlotte and where my seats were, I was almost PARALLEL with the craft as it flew by thru the center of the track.

WOW!



[Edited on 30-3-2004 by smirkley]

Originally posted by intelgurl
arg! you're right! I stand corrected.

but still, flying back to Atlanta same day would probably have been his standard operating procedure, they don't generally do "lay-overs" like that.

The pilots who do the flyovers get tickets to the race as a thank you from NASCAR. They get to go behind the Pit area and mill about. They don't normally head back till the next day.

BTW the total for the week is 4 aircraft:
3 F/A-18's
1 F-14

Fortunately none of the aviators or NFO's were injured and no there is no connection between them.



[Edited on 31/3/04 by COOL HAND]