Harrier down video

[HeyJoe]

No info on circumstances, but maybe HarrierDude has details on who, where, when and why...the video suffices to show "what". So much for an impromptu airshow if that is what it even was: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2510096620743421570&q=F22

 

[JT Eagle]

It was an RAF Harrier GR.7 at a beachfront airshow at Lowestoft in the UK in August 2002. From memory, the pilot (who was somewhat fatigued with a heavy display schedule plus other flying commitments) pulled the throttle back when he meant to rotate the nozzles. Or some technical Harrier thing like that. The aircraft became a reef for a few days until recovered. Hasn't flown again despite relatively superficial airframe damage.

Beware of comments on video sites like this. The poster (of the video) usually knows squat and the dimwits who add comments know even less. There was a discussion of this vid on another site a while back where someone insisted it was an R/C model and the seat firing was in fact the battery being ejected to save it from the crash. The level of discussion didn't rise much above that level.

Cheers
JT

 

[Fly Navy]

I was always told the engine failed.

 

[JIMC5499]

I was always told the engine failed.

And they didn't lie to you. Jet engines always fail when the fuel is shut off.

 

[nocal80]

I was always told the engine failed.

that seems more likely than the other explanation.

 

[HeyJoe]

And they didn't lie to you. Jet engines always fail when the fuel is shut off.

Well, if fuel was shut off, it's not a failure as the engine is doing what it was being told to do. Failure in headwork? Yep.

 

[squeeze]

Well, if fuel was shut off, it's not a failure as the engine is doing what it was being told to do. Failure in headwork? Yep.

Ya... it's pretty impossible to shut the fuel off in a Harrier inflight accidentally. I've always heard/read engine failure in that mishap, but I've seen other reports saying he got stupid with his left hand. If he dumped the nozzles in a hover, ya... he's gonna fall, which could explain the forward momentum.

 

[MasterBates]

How are the controls in a Harrier set up? Can you accidently grab thrust control while adjusting power?

I know in WWII there were a lot of trainer accidents before the throttle quadrants were standardized to THROTTLE-PROP-MIX in trainers. The book "The Wrong Stuff" (excellent book BTW) had a good bit of info about that.

 

[squeeze]

How are the controls in a Harrier set up? Can you accidently grab thrust control while adjusting power?

I know in WWII there were a lot of trainer accidents before the throttle quadrants were standardized to THROTTLE-PROP-MIX in trainers. The book "The Wrong Stuff" (excellent book BTW) had a good bit of info about that.

Basically, there is a nozzle lever inboard of the throttle. Here... let me just attach a quick snapshot of the NATOPS... easier than explaining.

 

[MasterBates]

It looks like there would definitly be a tactile differecne if you grabbed the wrong lever.

 

[JT Eagle]

Pilot error caused the crash of a £15m Harrier jet at a Suffolk air show last year, an official inquiry has revealed.

Crowds on the seafront at Lowestoft watched as the RAF plane which had been hovering above the waves off-shore suddenly seemed to lose power and plunged 60 feet into the water.

The pilot Flight Lieutenant Tony Cann ejected to safety and suffered a broken ankle. The plane was later recovered from the sea bed.

Changes in pilot training have been recommended after it was discovered that a cockpit mistake by the flier was responsible for the crash.

An RAF board of inquiry has now established that Flight Lieutenant Cann had accidentally operated the controls for throttle and nozzle direction lever at the same time causing it to drop like a stone.

Flight Lieutenant Cann, who is now flying again and based at RAF Cottismore, is said to have received advice following the loss of the plane in August 2003.

 

[HeyJoe]

Flight Lieutenant Cann, who is now flying again and based at RAF Cottismore, is said to have received advice following the loss of the plane in August 2003.

Wonderful Brit understatement. Perhaps a friendly arm around the shoulder while imparting that bit of advice?

 

[Whalebite]

Holy cow that NATOPS pic looks complicated

 

[phrogdriver]

Holy cow that NATOPS pic looks complicated

It resembles some sort of bizarre kitchen appliance. It peels, it zests, it juices!

 

[MasterBates]

You should see the 60B sticks.