F15 inflight fire and emergency landing from HUD tape

[RTHolmes]

i understand in the RAF you get 2 ejects and then you're career in fast jets is over (mainly because of the inevitable spinal damage.)

still cant work out why his final was so fast though, he didnt call out any control damage.

[wrongwayric]

First it's and airforce jet, so no arresting gear/tailhook and wimpy gear, i'm amazed that landing that fast he held it to the end of the runway. Think the rule in navy/marines is 2 ejections then medical eval and if you pass you can fly but if you have a 3rd your done. I was one of the instructors that helped write the training program for the N.A.C.E.S system and it's much better than the ole F4U spine crusher. The one thing you have to remember is anytime you are forcefully removed from a fixed position your going to suffer some type of injury. It can be as simple as spine compression to dislocated shoulders, broken bones, ect.. The 1 ejection i witnessed happened on takeoff, the trainee pilot and instructor in the F18 ejected on takeoff roll halfway down the runway. The instructor was in rear c/p and got almost 3 swings from his chute, hit the pavement and broke his leg. The traineee in the fwd c/p got about 3 1/2 swings from his chute hit pavement and walked away sore and bruised.

[Wolfala]

First it's and airforce jet, so no arresting gear/tailhook and wimpy gear, i'm amazed that landing that fast he held it to the end of the runway. Think the rule in navy/marines is 2 ejections then medical eval and if you pass you can fly but if you have a 3rd your done. I was one of the instructors that helped write the training program for the N.A.C.E.S system and it's much better than the ole F4U spine crusher. The one thing you have to remember is anytime you are forcefully removed from a fixed position your going to suffer some type of injury. It can be as simple as spine compression to dislocated shoulders, broken bones, ect.. The 1 ejection i witnessed happened on takeoff, the trainee pilot and instructor in the F18 ejected on takeoff roll halfway down the runway. The instructor was in rear c/p and got almost 3 swings from his chute, hit the pavement and broke his leg. The traineee in the fwd c/p got about 3 1/2 swings from his chute hit pavement and walked away sore and bruised.

On tailhooks. All land based fighters have them for use in case of emergency. But its pretty much a 1 time deal since they are not strong enough for repeated traps like the carrier birds.

[AKIron]

Coming in on one engine with the other on fire would probably make anyone approach too fast.

[Bodhi]

that guy sure worked hard to get her down in one piece...  too bad it didn't work out for him.

[CMC Airboss]

Whiteman tower stated "Negative cable at Whiteman" at 5:03.

[AquaShrimp]

Fuel burns, vapors explode.  I remember watching an interview with an AV8B pilot during the first Gulf War.  His Harrier caught fire and he flew it back a long way before the controls finally burned out.  Then he had to eject.

Procedures are good and all, but back injuries are permanent.  From a right and wrong standpoint (and not an airforce procedure one), all he did wrong was land too fast.  Its a shame he had to eject.

[Sundowner]

  What I'm wondering is that jet is equiped with an arrestor hook....does whiteman not have an overunn cable system?

I think he was WAY beyond the speed limits of hook engagement.

The F-15 prolly has a beefier arresting hook than the F-16 but I'm willing to bet the "Arrestment should always be accomplished at the lowest speed and GW possible." concept applies to all fighters.

My copy of T.O. 1F-16A-1 states the following:

"HOOK ENGAGEMENT LIMITS

ROUTINE ARRESTMENT         135 KNOTS
EMERGENCY ARRESTMENT     150 KNOTS

Arrestment should always be accomplished at the lowest speed and GW possible. The cable should be engaged on center with the nosewheel on the ground."

This guy's HUD showed 250+ KTS at touchdown.

Regards,
Sun

[eagl]

There have been a number of mishaps where F-15s have flown some distance while on fire, and landed safely.  The plane is very robust and has multiple redundant systems.  The standard inflight fire checklist for pretty much every ejection seat equipped aircraft ends with something like "if fire continues - eject".  But since burning F-15s don't tend to just blow up, there have been a bunch of cases where a burning F-15 was flown back for a landing.  The standard answer for "why didn't you eject?" seems to be "well the plane was flying ok, so I stayed with it a bit longer."  Nobody will recommend that a pilot continue to fly a burning aircraft if they have the option to eject, but in the end it is the pilot's decision and second-guessing it after the fact isn't usually helpful.  If he survives, his decision worked out.  If he dies or it otherwise goes wrong, it was self-critiquing and will be used as an example of what not to do.

[culero]

Thanks for the clarification, eagl.