CF-18 Crash @ Lethbridge

[moose]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEjDVjQfEKI&feature=player_embedded#!

Hopefully the pilot's alright. loss of engines while doing slow speed maneuvering? those sounds right before the stall didn't sound good..

[Jayhawk]

Very scary and I hope the pilot is alright.

But I laughed when I heard the song, 'stayin alive'

[Maverick]

Sounded and looked like one engine quit and put him in an assymetrical thrust situation. I'd bet he cut the remaining throttle to keep the plane from going any further towards the crowd just before he punched out. I hope he's OK, looked like a good chute.

[redman555]

Sounded and looked like one engine quit and put him in an assymetrical thrust situation. I'd bet he cut the remaining throttle to keep the plane from going any further towards the crowd just before he punched out. I hope he's OK, looked like a good chute.

Yup, I was about to post that then read what you said.  His plane slowly started scooting to the side and turning at same time.


-BigBOBCH

[MiloMorai]

He has one VERY sore neck.

[Jayhawk]

I can only imagine the experience of ejecting from a plane like that, both physical and emotional.  You really really don't want to loose that plane, but have to make that decision in half a second.

[ghi]

I've seen this in news  this evening, Lucky pilot! damn this ejecting seats are efficient, saving lots  lives. This week the Canadian gov. approved  a deal for buying 65 x F-35, they don't want to spend anymore in upgrading this old F-18s.

[MORAY37]

Yup, look at the engine nozzle positions.  Port nozzle is full open, while starboard isn't. 

[Lepape2]

Here in Montreal the reporters say he was injured by being dragged on the ground in his ejection seat from his parachute pulled from strong winds.
But I hate how they all think this has to do with the F-35 deal and that all Canadian F-18s but be scrapped at once. Some believe its almost like this crash was stagged to promote this recent deal in favor of the present government. In the video, we clearly hear a slight bang just after the aircraft starts banking right. I should stop listening to news on TV... they are are not too careful about what they claim. (2 days ago, they said astronomers found a star 300 times BIGGER than our sun... while it is somewhere near 265 times more MASSIVE. Couldn't believe what I heard at the time)

About these exhaust nozzles: In the event of an engine failure or loss of power, are these controlled automatically depending on exhaust pressure output?

[OSU]

I'll bet that pilot woke up with more than a few bruises this morning. Looks like he was OK, but he hit the ground kinda hard. Very quick thinking on his part.

EDIT: Here's a news article I found from this Youtube link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9AKUJymgUg

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. - A CF-18 pilot was in hospital with undetermined injuries after his jet crashed during a practice run at an airshow in southern Alberta on Friday.

"The pilot successfully ejected and has been recovered," said Capt. Holly Brown from 17 Wing in Winnipeg. "His well-being is our primary concern and that's what we're focusing on."

The military identified the pilot as Capt. Brian Bews from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron based at 3 Wing in Bagotville, Que.

The accident at the Lethbridge county airport happened shortly after noon.

"I just saw the jet going back and forth and doing manoeuvres, and the next thing I knew, it was going straight down to the ground (in) a big orange ball of fire and smoke," an identified eyewitness told Lethbridge radio station CJOC.

Officials from CFB Cold Lake said Bews, who witnesses said used a parachute to eject, hit the ground hard and was dragged across the runway.

Brown said it was too early to know his condition.

"Anytime you have an injury or go through something like that, there's obvious injuries and there's injuries you don't know about until later on," she said. "At this point we're not saying because we don't know.

"We just know he's alive and we're very thankful for that."

The CF-18 Bews was flying is a plane specifically used for airshows and only flown in that capacity, she added.

An investigation by officials from the military and the Department of Transport into what happened began as soon as fire and police officers cordoned off the area.

There will be no impact on CF-18 operations elsewhere in the country, 2nd Lt. Christopher Daniel said from Ottawa.

Police said nobody other than the pilot was injured and the site presented no risk to the public.

Airshow president Robb Engen said the airport was closed to all incoming and outgoing flights.

Jim Reith, who controls the air space for the airshow, said there wasn't much choice.

"The airport was shut down because of the location of the incident," he said. "It was more or less at the juncture where two runways and a major taxiway intersect, so there really weren't any portions of the airport that we could still operate."

Event officials decided the airshow, which is in its 19th year, would go ahead as planned this weekend.

A Defence Department website says Bews enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1999 and attended a NATO flight training program in Moose Jaw, Sask. He was selected to be a fighter pilot and in 2004 realized his dream to fly the CF-18 Hornet . He was posted to Bagotville in 2008.

Every year, the Air Force selects the CF-18 demonstration team and Bews was chosen to fly the demonstration jet in 2010.

He grew up in Eatonia, Sask., and spends his free time riding motorcycles. He is also a huge fan of motorsports of all kinds.(The Canadian Press, CJOC, CHLB)

[007Rusty]

Yahoo has alittle bit about it
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100724/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_air_show_crash

[MiloMorai]

Here in Montreal the reporters say he was injured by being dragged on the ground in his ejection seat from his parachute pulled from strong winds.
But I hate how they all think this has to do with the F-35 deal and that all Canadian F-18s but be scrapped at once. Some believe its almost like this crash was stagged to promote this recent deal in favor of the present government. In the video, we clearly hear a slight bang just after the aircraft starts banking right. I should stop listening to news on TV... they are are not too careful about what they claim. (2 days ago, they said astronomers found a star 300 times BIGGER than our sun... while it is somewhere near 265 times more MASSIVE. Couldn't believe what I heard at the time)

About these exhaust nozzles: In the event of an engine failure or loss of power, are these controlled automatically depending on exhaust pressure output?

Reporters are Class 1 idiots. It can be clearly seen that he had separated from the ejection seat. Afew years ago they were talking about an air show here and confused a Hurc and a helicopter.

Quite possible about the star.

[USRanger]

Here in Montreal the reporters say he was injured by being dragged on the ground in his ejection seat from his parachute pulled from strong winds.

Welcome to the airborne!

[ebfd11]

In the CFR copmmunity we have a saying for this, "It takes a college education to fly and crash a plane but it takes a high school education to put the fire out and put the plane back together".

But my favorite is; you crash-we dash
You burn-we learn
Bloody red or charcoal black, we don't care we bringem back, CRASH CREW

[FTJR]

The way his neck is bent in the photo reminds me of a guy I once shared a flat with, he had ejected out of an Electric Lightning, he pulled the handle, nothing happened, he looked down, and boom ejected, trouble was with his head bent like that he had one of his retina's detach and that was the end of his career.