DEFENCE
flightglobal.com 18-31 August 2015 | Flight International | 21
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GENERAL AVIATION P22A
Greek air force Lockheed
Martin F-16D which
crashed during a multinational
training exercise on 26 January
had not been properly trimmed
for take-off, according to NATO
investigators tasked with deter-
mining the cause of the mishap,
which killed 11 people.
Before the crew began taxiing
at Albacete air base in Spain, the
yaw trim on their aircraft had in-
advertently been set to a maxi-
mum right deflection of 12 ̊,
which “drastically” affected its
aerodynamics during take-off, a
final report says.
A trim check, which includes
ensuring that the pitch and yaw
trim knobs are centred, is part of
the “before take-off” proce-
dures, which were carried out
while the F-16 was at the park-
ing area 20min before the flight.
This was deemed by the NATO
safety investigation board to
have been “very early”.
Other contributing factors in-
cluded the manual trim panel
not being designed to prevent all
inadvertent movement, and the
aircraft not having a means of
alerting the pilot if it was incor-
rectly configured.
“The coexistence of a number
of critical factors led the acci-
dent to a fatal level,” the reportsays. It identifies these as hav-
ing included “heavy gross
weight, asymmetry configura-
tion, two-seat model, external
fuel tanks [mainly centreline]
and crosswind”.
“The fact that this unintend-
ed rotation of the yaw trim knob
is uncommon, especially of this
severity, did not lead HAF [Hel-
lenic air force] flight training
and flight safety structures todeal with this issue at an appro-
priate level,” the investigators
say. Unsecured objects falling
in the cockpit could also have
led to the yaw trim knob being
moved, they add, while noting
that there were no related emer-
gency procedures and no previ-
ous recorded incidents of this
type in Greek service.
One of two aircraft from the
Greek air force’s 341 Sqn that
were performing a formation
take-off during a Tactical Lead-
ership Programme training
course, the F-16D – a 1997-built
example with the tail number
084 – crashed 7.8s after becom-
ing airborne.
Both Greek pilots were killed,
along with nine French air force
personnel on the ground. The
impact and post-crash fire also
damaged or destroyed another
eight aircraft. ■S
pain is close to selecting a
medium-altitude, long-en-
durance (MALE) unmanned air
vehicle, with an initial €25 mil-
lion ($28 million) having been al-
located for the acquisition in the
nation’s 2016 defence budget.
Two types are under consider-
ation, with General Atomics Aer-
onautical Systems teamed with
Sener to offer the MQ-9 Predator
B, and Israel Aerospace Indus-
tries working with Indra to pro-
mote the Heron TP.
A decision is expected next
year, with Spanish newspaper El
Pais claiming that the total re-
quirement is for four UAVs and
two ground control stations – one
fixed and one mobile. A five-year
contract for the period to 2020 is
expected to value €171 million.
While some reports suggest
that Madrid has already followed
France, Italy, the Netherlands
and the UK by selecting the
Predator B, General Atomics tells
Flight International that no deci-
sion has been announced. IAI de-
clines to comment.
The selected platform will be
delivered in a surveillance-only
configuration, and made availa-
ble as a joint service capability. ■INVESTIGATION BETH STEVENSON LONDON
Trim error caused NATO training crash
Maximum right yaw deflection on Greek F-16D led to aircraft loss and 11 deaths during multinational exercise in Spain
Madrid nears MALE UAV choice as funds allocated
ACQUISITION BETH STEVENSON LONDON
Both crew members died when they lost control soon after take-offAction Press/Rex ShutterstockThe Predator B is under consideration, along with IAI’s Heron TPGeneral Atomics Aeronautical SystemsDownload the 2015
World Air Forces Report
http://www.flightglobal.com/waf
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