LOSSES
Compiled by Tom Kaminski
- An Oryx M-1 helicopter operated
by the South African Air Force
su ered a hard landing during
a capability demonstration at
the Roodewal Weapons Range
in Limpopo on September 18.
Although the helicopter was heavily
damaged, none of the ve crew was
seriously injured. - US Air Force T-6A serial 05-6209,
assigned to the 12th Flying Training
Wing’s 559th Flying Training
Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-
Randolph, Texas, crashed during
a training ight on September
- The Texan II came down in a
grassy area near a shopping mall in
northern San Antonio but both crew
ejected safely and sustained only
minor injuries.
- A Sudanese Air Force Mi-17
crashed during landing at
Nyala Airport on September 17.
No fatalities were reported in
the mishap. - An Afghan National Army Mi-17
crashed near Ranng village in
the Khak-i-Sa d district of Farah
province on September 14. Five crew
aboard the helicopter were killed. - A Royal Saudi Army AH-64
crashed in eastern Yemen on
September 14, killing both crew. The
Apache went down in the Tanhala
Mountains, in Al-Mahrah province. - The US Navy suspended
operations of its unmanned MQ-4C
aircraft after one of the Tritons was
damaged in a gear-up landing
at Naval Base Ventura County/
NAS Point Mugu, California, on
September 12. The Triton was
undergoing operational testing with
Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP)
19 when the mishap occurred.- A US Air Force T-38C operated by
the 80th Flying Training Wing was
heavily damaged when it departed
the runway during take-o at
Sheppard AFB, Texas, on September
- Both the German Air Force
instructor and the USAF student
pilot ejected safely from the Talon.
Sheppard shares its runways with
Wichita Falls Municipal Airport.
- An AH-6i operated by the Royal
Saudi National Guard crashed under
unknown circumstances during a
training exercise on September 6.
An American instructor pilot was
injured and a student pilot was killed
when the ‘Little Bird’ came down at
Khashm Al-An Airport east of Riyadh. - A MiG-27 operated by the Indian
Air Force crashed shortly after take-
o from Jodhpur Air Force Station in
Rajastan on September 4. The pilot
ejected safely before the aircraft
came down in a eld near the village
of Devalia. - A Sea King helicopter operated
by the Pakistan Navy crashed in the
Arabian Sea during a routine ight
on August 31. One crew member
was killed in the mishap and six
others were recovered. - DHC-6-300 ET-AIU (c/n 822)
operated by the Ethiopian Air Force
crashed around 47 miles (75km)
south-east of Addis Ababa on
August 13. The Twin Otter went
down near Mojo in the Lumme
district, killing three crew and 15
passengers. - A T-2E operated by the Hellenic
Air Force crashed on August 28,
killing one pilot. A second pilot
ejected but was injured. The Buckeye
came down around 7nm (13km)
north of Sparta. - An F-5F operated by the Islamic
Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF)
crashed on August 26 near Dezful, in
the south-western area of Khuzestan
province around 280 miles (451km)
south-west of Tehran. One pilot was
killed but the second ejected safely
when the Tiger II crashed while
landing at Dezful air base.- An F-35C operated by the US
Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA)
125 su ered foreign object damage
(FOD) when its engine ingested
debris from a refueling basket
while conducting aerial refueling
operations with a VFA-103 F/A-18F
in the VACAPES exercise area of the
coast of Virginia on August 22. The
Lightning II recovered safely aboard
the aircraft carrier USS Abraham
Lincoln (CVN 72). The Super Hornet
was also damaged in the mishap but
recovered at NAS Oceana, Virginia. - A Mi-8AMTSh from the Russian
Aerospace Forces’ 320th Separate Air
Squadron su ered a hard landing
and burned at Uprun Air eld in the
Chelyabinsk region on August 22.
Three crew escaped without serious
injuries, but the helicopter was
destroyed by the post-crash re. - No injuries were reported when
a Polish Army Mi-2 su ered a hard
landing during a training ight on
August 21. The mishap occurred at
the 56th Air Base in Inowrocław and
involved a helicopter from the 1st
Aviation Brigade. - The pilot of a Swedish Air Force
JAS 39C ejected safely before
the ghter crashed following
a bird strike on August 21. The
Gripen came down near Möljeryd,
around 5.5 miles (9km) north of
Ronneby air eld. - A US Army MH-60M operated
by the 1st Battalion, 160th Special
Operations Aviation Regiment
crashed near Sinjar in the Ninevah
province of Iraq on August 20,
killing one pilot and injuring three
other personnel. The helicopter
was reportedly returning to base
after conducting a small-scale raid
in an undisclosed region when the
mishap occurred.- An MH-60S operated by US Navy
Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron
(HSC) 26 was heavily damaged in a
hard landing at Mountain Home AFB,
Idaho, on August 16. No injuries were
reported among the ve crew aboard
the Seahawk. The mishap occurred at
a forward arming and refueling point
(FARP) during a training exercise.
RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT DOWNED
BY ‘FRIENDLY FIRE’
A RUSSIAN AEROSPACE Forces Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft was
apparently shot down by a Syrian S-200 (SA-5 ‘Gammon’) surface-to-air
missile in a ‘friendly re’ incident on September 17. The aircraft was en
route to Khmeimim air base in Latakia province when it crashed in the
Mediterranean Sea around 20 miles (35km) o the Syrian coast, killing all
15 aboard. Syrian air defenses were reportedly tracking a ight of Israeli
F-16s at the time.GROWLER
WRITTEN OFF
The Royal Australian Air Force
has deemed that an EA-18G
damaged in a mishap at Nellis
AFB, Nevada, in January is
‘beyond economic repair and has
been withdrawn from service’.
The Growler, which is assigned
serial number A46-311, su ered
a catastrophic engine failure and
re during take-o from Nellis
for a familiarization ight in
preparation for Exercise ‘Red Flag
18-1’ on January 28.Russian Aerospace Forces Il-20M RF-93610 intercepted by
Italian Air Force Typhoons over the Baltic earlier this year.
Although unconfi rmed, this was reportedly the aircraft
downed by Syrian air defenses on its return to Khmeimim.
Aeronautica MilitareGLOBAL
HAWK LOSS
The USAF has acknowledged
the previously undisclosed
crash of an unmanned RQ-4B
o the coast of Spain on June- The Global Hawk went down
in the Gulf of Cadiz, near Rota,
Spain, and was subsequently
recovered by salvage crews. It
had been assigned to the 9th
Reconnaissance Wing’s 348th
Reconnaissance Squadron at
Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota.
Although the USAF did not
disclose the variant that was
lost, the squadron operates the
Block 20 EQ-4B and Block 40
RQ-4B variants.
WORLD [NEWS]
http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 21