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Abbreviations: D: Date N: Nationality U: Units T: Type S: SerialsD: Dec 18
N: Polish Air Force
U: 1. elt
T: MiG-29 Fulcrum-A
S: 67
Contact with this aircraft was
lost at around 1715hrs as it
approached the 23rd Tactical
Air Base at Mińsk Mazowiecki.
Despite search operations being
hampered by bad weather (low
cloud prevented use of a search
and rescue helicopter), darkness
and dense forest and wetlands,
the pilot was found after about
two hours, around 3.1 miles
(5km) southeast of Kałuszyn,
and transported to the Military
Medical Institute in Warsaw for
treatment. Remarkably, although
he had not ejected, the pilot
only suffered a broken leg. The
wreckage was located 5 miles
(8km) short of the runway. This
was the first major accident
involving a Polish MiG-29 since
the type entered service in 1989.D: Dec 18
N: US Air ForceU: 352nd SOW/7th SOS
T: CV-22B Osprey
This aircraft was damaged in
the UK when a vehicle driven
by a 44-year-old British man
crashed through a security gate
at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, and,
despite shots being fired in an
attempt to stop him, reached the
flight line where the Osprey was
parked, where he was arrested.
The nature of the damage to the
aircraft was not reported, but it
was described as ‘slight’. Suffolk
police later said the man, who
suffered cuts and bruises, had
been detained under the Mental
Health Act and the incident was
not being treated as terrorism.D: Dec 19
N: US Air Force/Georgia Air
National Guard/
U: 116th Air Control Wing
T: 5 x E-8C Joint STARS
Four personnel were injured in
a ground operations incident
involving a serious engine failure
on an E-8C aircraft during a
maintenance test run at RobinsD: Dec 10
N: South African Air Force
T Atlas TP-1 Oryx
S: 1236
This helicopter crashed onto the
N1 highway near Paarl, between
Worcester and the Huguenot
Tunnel, on the Worcester side
of the Du Toitskloof Pass, near
Cape Town, after hitting recently
erected overhead wires. The
wires were not marked on any
aeronautical charts or mentioned
in any NOTAMs. The eight
occupants (including the pilot,
co-pilot, flight engineer and
four aircraft technicians and
mechanics) were all injured when
the helicopter rolled onto its
side and was badly damaged.
The Oryx was returning to Air
Force Base Ysterplaat after
completing an assignment
to assist a training team in
Touws River, near Worcester.
D: Dec 11
N: US Navy
U: VQ-3
T: E-6B Mercury
S: 164386
During descent for landing in
darkness at Tinker Air Force Base,
Oklahoma, at 1815hrs the aircraft
struck a flock of birds leading to
flameout of the No 4 engine. The
aircraft landed safely and the crew
was uninjured, but it has been
categorised as a Class A mishap.
D: Dec 12
N: US Navy
U: VAW-126
T: E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
S: 168593 ‘AB-604’
While operating at night over
the Fallon Range Training
Complex in Nevada, the crew
was unable to retract the Electro
Magnetic Interference Reduction
System (EMIRS) antenna cable
and at 0045hrs was forced to
deliberately sever it to enable
a safe landing back at Naval
Air Station Fallon. It has been
categorised as a Class A mishap.
D: Dec 13
N: Ecuadorian Air Force
U: Escuadrón de Combate 2112
T: Cheetah C
S: 1371 (ex-SAAF/371)
The pilot of this aircraft ejected
safely at around 0950hrs before
it crashed at Durán-Boliche,
Guayas province, shortly after
take-off from Base Aérea
Taura for a training flight.
D: Dec 13
N: Polish Air Force/School of
Aviation
U: 4th Air Training Wing
T: SW-4 Puszczyk
Two pilots suffered non-life-
threatening injuries at around
1700hrs when this helicopter
rolled over while attempting
to land at the 41st Air Force
Base at Deblin-Irena.D: Dec 16
N: Honduran Air Force
T: AS350B3 Ecureuil
S: FAH-905
Six people were killed when this
helicopter, callsign ‘Bestia 01’,
crashed in poor weather in the
Yerba Buena Nature Reserve,
Lepaterique, Francisco Morazán,
during a flight from its base at
Tegucigalpa-Toncontín Teniente
Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía
Airport to Soto Cano air base.
The fatalities included Mrs Hilda
Hernández, communications
minister and sister of the
President of the Republic,
Juan Orlando Hernández.Above: South African Air Force Atlas TP-1 Oryx 1236 lies on its side on the N1 highway outside Cape Town following its
crash on December 10.Above: The wreckage of Royal Jordanian Air Force G 120TP 461 following its crash on December 10. Both crew
members bailed out safely from the aircraft, which had entered service earlier in the year.88 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com