Cope Thunder Blunders in the Philippines.

[Puma44]

A few years back when Clark Air Base was in operation, Cope Thunder exercises were held there.  At the beginning of the exercise, during local area brief, this “Thunder Blunders” video was shown as an attention step.  The videos were recorded on the Crow Valley Bombing Range near Clark Air Base.  We deployed down from Osan AB, ROK a couple of times in our air to air F-4Es.  As such, we didn’t do any work in Crow Valley.

https://youtu.be/rFpaNxGigSU

[DaveBB]

Very interesting video.  Can you explain what happened in scene 3?  The wingman says "I think I dropped on the conventional signal" and the flight lead says "oh no".  What does that mean?  The last scene was tragic. 

[BFOOT1]

I was doing some reading on the last one. Seems like the A-7 pulled up but as he came up his tail struck the ground. I hated watching that.

[DaveBB]

I was doing some reading on the last one. Seems like the A-7 pulled up but as he came up his tail struck the ground. I hated watching that.

That one was sad.  The plane has a high angle of attack and the sink rate has almost stopped when it hits.

[Puma44]

Very interesting video.  Can you explain what happened in scene 3?  The wingman says "I think I dropped on the conventional signal" and the flight lead says "oh no".  What does that mean?  The last scene was tragic. 

Having not flown the Wild Weasel Mission, my guess is that he dropped on a threat signal simulator site, an unauthorized bombing target due to cost of the asset and possibility of it being manned.

I was doing some reading on the last one. Seems like the A-7 pulled up but as he came up his tail struck the ground. I hated watching that.

That was a classic example of target fixation which can happen anywhere, anytime.  Especially so in an excercise scenario that is more real world combat oriented with the adrenaline pumping and intense concentration coming down the chute on a bomb run.  That one makes me cringe every time I see it just like it did the during my first Cope Thunder inbrief.  No doubt that guy was pulling for all he was worth when it dawned on him.