C-17 Alaska crash - USAF releases video

[Strip]

I am reminded of the B25 crash out at Fairchild.  Too low and too slow banking too sharply....

I am sure you meant B-52 but does remind me of the accident at Fairchild as well.

The accident investigation for the C-17 reads very similar, placing most of the blame on the pilot. The rest cites both co-pilot and safety observer as failing to recognize or prevent an unsafe condition. Overconfidence, overaggressive, channelized attention, misplaced motivation, expectancy are listed as causes leading up to the sequence of events. The pilot had performed this same flight profile many times violating several mandates on each occurrence. During the last flight the pilot flew threw stall warnings while applying rudder, which is against flight procedure. He did not perform proper stall recovery and violated minimum safe speeds several times in the flight. It is unfortunate that such a mistake must be paid for with the lives of four Americans.

In fact replace C-17 with B-52 and you have a carbon copy of the crash at Fairchild....

Condolences to all those involved, especially to the families.

Strip

[LLogann]

I didn't see any rudder input from that camera angle......

Well they cut the film before lawn dart
amazing it can climb that steep from takeoff

Terrible to see such a new plane to go down
..pilot error?

Poor subject to troll with dude.

Your upset about the plane?

4 people died who had families.

[beau32]

Looks  like he went past maximum AoA and stayed there.  As I recall, C-17 uses spoilers and those do not work too well while being behind the lift curve.



Here's a link to a public release of accident investigation. 

http://www.pacaf.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101210-079.pdf

The C-17 also has Ailerons, but uses spoilers to help with turning, much like the B-52 (which only has spoilers).

In my honest opinion it was bad taste to even post a video like this, and as some said, I have seen my fair share of these. -1 for the poster, sir you need something else to find on youtube. Unless you have ever been to a accident site, you will never know what its like. And yes I have been to one, when I was stationed at Edwards AFB, we had a F-16 impact the ground inverted, and I was part of the clean up crew to go up there and clean not only the plane up, but also the pilot and back seater. Now I am working C-17s, and this is even closer to home. No, I didnt know the crew, but people I work with did, and it took a toll on all of us.

[Maverick]

  to the crew. Mistakes happen, we are all subject to error and no one is perfect. Peacetime flying is not without danger.

My condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. 

[Grayeagle]

I hate to see the progression .. nose goes low, wing wont recover, and no altitude to spare.
-sigh-

We had a similar incident at Udorn long ago .. one of the Thai Trojan's pilots was giving a 'show' to a local newsman ..the news guy recognized 'nose low, too low, wing not recovering, and *HE* punched out .. pilot rode it in.

Same scenario .. pilot was racking it around and the plane just quit flyin.

Painful to watch, a damn shame all the way around.

-GE

[MrRiplEy[H]]

s. The pilot had performed this same flight profile many times violating several mandates on each occurrence. During the last flight the pilot flew threw stall warnings while applying rudder, which is against flight procedure. He did not perform proper stall recovery and violated minimum safe speeds several times in the flight. It is unfortunate that such a mistake must be paid for with the lives of four Americans.

Why are pilots that exhibit this kind of over agressive flying in *cargo* planes allowed to fly and risk other crew members?

[EskimoJoe]

Why are pilots that exhibit this kind of over agressive flying in *cargo* planes allowed to fly and risk other crew members?

It is to my understanding that those C-17s perform those high-angle takeoffs followed by steep banking is a common combat procedure to reduce exposure to rocket-fire, small arms, the like. Unfortunately, it seems as if the pilot pushed the aircraft too hard.

  to those four who lost their lives wearing the flag of the United States of America on their shoulder, and to their families for raising four souls that where brave enough to put that uniform on.

[Stoney]

Why are pilots that exhibit this kind of over agressive flying in *cargo* planes allowed to fly and risk other crew members?

Because the pilots that do it, and the people responsible for supervising them are human.  The military falls victim to the same mistakes civilians make every day, its just the consequences are much higher when they screw up.

[oakranger]

It is to my understanding that those C-17s perform those high-angle takeoffs followed by steep banking is a common combat procedure to reduce exposure to rocket-fire, small arms, the like. Unfortunately, it seems as if the pilot pushed the aircraft too hard.

Do they do this when full in cargo?

[Stoney]

There are procedures that govern how and when these types of takeoffs and maneuvers are allowable.  Obviously weight of the cargo and the combat environment will dictate a lot of that.  None of the approved procedures would allow unsafe maneuvering.  Some unbelievably heavy-handed control input in that video that is obviously outside of the envelope.

[Yeager]

In my honest opinion it was bad taste to even post a video like this, and as some said, I have seen my fair share of these. -1 for the poster, sir you need something else to find on youtube.

Take it up with the USAF, they released it to the public.

This is a community with an extremely HIGH interest in ALL THINGS AVIATION and as such this tragic event is very important to understand and discuss for most of us here.  You obviously do not fit that catagory. 

You also had the option of not clicking on the link, which you clearly had to understand was directly related the topic title.

[Shuffler]

Take it up with the USAF, they released it to the public.

This is a community with an extremely HIGH interest in ALL THINGS AVIATION and as such this tragic event is very important to understand and discuss for most of us here.  You obviously do not fit that catagory. 

You also had the option of not clicking on the link, which you clearly had to understand was directly related the topic title.

+1