Scramble Magazine – May 2018

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Scramble 468

13apr18 F-22A dam

The United States Air Force has to dig into its repair pouch to

repair this F-22A Raptor, which made a wheels up landing at

NAS Fallon (NV), receiving a lot of damage as a result. Uncon-

firmed reports suggest the Raptor, which belongs to Elmen-

dorf AFB’s (AK) 3rd Wing, may have retracted its gear too

early during take-off, with the aircraft slamming back down

on the runway at relatively high speed and continued to skid

its way to a stop. Thankfully the pilot was able to get out of

the Lockheed Martin fighter without major injuries.

The Raptor was on TDY at NAS Fallon to support the Navy

Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor programme, better known

as Top Gun, posing as a threat aircraft for students in their

final graduation exercise. This is a widely known event in

which Top Gun students take part in a 1v1 fight against an

unknown ‘surprise’ enemy aircraft.

15apr18 N525P Ce525 525-0165 w/o

A CitationJet of Augusta Aviation was cruising by night and

in very bad weather conditions (a tornado warning bul-

letin was issued shortly before the accident), the pilot lost

control of the airplane which dove into the ground, hit a cell

tower and disintegrated in a wooded and mountainous area

located in Albemarle County, north-west of Crozet (VA). The

ensuing fire destroyed the aircraft and killed the sole occu-

pant onboard.

15apr18 C-FXWT CL-605 5824 nil

15apr18 N4AT Ce550 550-0805 dam

A private Cessna Citation Bravo was intending to perform a

flight from Winnipeg International Airport (MB) to Bedford

(MA). After starting the engines on apron II, and while under

the guidance of a ground marshaller, the Bravo began to

taxi for departure. During the initial turn from the parking

area, aircraft control was lost and N4AT’s right wing collided

with the nose gear of C-FXWT, a Bombardier Challenger 605

aircraft, which was parked. The pilot of N4AT subsequently

shut down the aircraft and exited with the passenger without

injuries. The right wing of N4AT was substantially damaged,

causing a fuel leak on the apron. The left wing of C-FXWT was

also damaged in the collision by the nose of N4AT.

15apr18 JA02TG Kodiak 100 100-0156 dam

A Quest Kodiak 100 equipped with floats, operated by

Setouchi Seaplanes, was substantially damaged while ditch-

ing off shore of Onomichi city, Hiroshima prefecture, during

a training flight. It took off from the shore of Onomichi Float-

ing Port at 11:45 local time, and the accident happened five

minutes later. Hearing an abnormal noise, the crew decided

to divert to Konan Airport for evaluating the damage, and a

safe landing was carried out at 12:37 local time. Substantial

damage to the fuselage and the supports between the fuse-

lage and floats were found. There were no personal injuries.

15apr18 HK-4484 Bell 206L-4 52035 w/o

Colombian chopper operator Helifly lost one of its Bell Lon-

gRangers when it crashed under unknown circumstances at

Argelia, Cauca. One out of the three occupants was killed, two

others were injured.

15apr18 PT-IXC Ce310Q 310Q0709 w/o

Fly Taxi Aéreo’s Cessna 310 attempted to take-off from an

empty field located in a farm in front of a swamp, in Piri-

gara, Barão de Melgaço, Mato Grosso. The Cessna did not

manage to climb and crashed into the swamp, making it a

complete write off. The pilot and two passengers received

minor injuries.

17apr18 N772SW B737-7H4 27880 w/o

Southwest Airlines flight WN1380, from New York-La Guardia

(NY) to Dallas-Love Field (TX) was climbing through FL320

(32,000ft) out of New York when the left hand engine (CFM56)

was damaged, causing inlet and parts of the cowl to separate

from the airframe. The resulting debris impacted the side of

the fuselage, shattering a passenger window which in turn

caused a rapid depressurization. The crew donned their

oxygen masks, reported they had an engine failure and engine

fire and were to initiate an emergency descent. They shut the

engine down and diverted to Philadelphia (PA). During the

descent the crew requested medical services to meet the air-

craft as they had injured passengers. ATC understood a pas-

senger might have been sucked out of the aircraft but stopped

that discussion “we’ll work it out”, once the aircraft was on

the ground. After being vectored to Philly’s runway 27L the

Boeing landed safely, vacated the runway and stopped on the

adjacent taxiway. The emergency services foamed the left

hand engine, and afterwards the passengers disembarked via

stairs onto the taxiway and were taken to the terminal. One

passenger was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The

NTSB later reported one passenger has died (presumably the

one taken to the hospital).

Southwest Airlines stated they are deeply saddened to

confirm there was one fatality resulting from this accident.

“This is a sad day and our hearts go out to the family and

the loved ones of the deceased customer”, the chairman said.

T-35 Pillán 111 of the Chile Air Force also took out Piper 28 223. (Santiago-El Bosque, 27 December 2012, Wim Sonneveld)