LOSSES
Compiled by Tom Kaminski- A US Air Force F-22A operated by
the 3rd Wing was damaged in a take-
off incident at NAS Fallon, Nevada, on
April 13. The Raptor was supporting
the US Navy’s TOPGUN Strike Fighter
Tactics Instructor (SFTI) program at
the time. No injuries were reported. - A Russian Navy Ka-29 crashed in
the Baltic Sea during a night training
exercise with a naval vessel on April
- Both crew were killed when
the helicopter went down west of
Kaliningrad.
- A Yak-130 trainer operated by
the Russian Air Force’s Krasnodar
Higher Aviation School crashed on
a training flight near Borisoglebsk in
the Voronezh Region on April 12. The
student and instructor pilots both
ejected safely. - The pilot of a Hellenic Air Force
Mirage 2000-5 was killed when the
fighter crashed in the Aegean Sea off
the coast of Skyros on April 12. The
Mirage, which had been assigned
to 331 Mira, apparently went down
around nine miles (14.5km) north-
east of the island. It was reportedly
one of two jets scrambled to
intercept a pair of Turkish F-16Cs over
the Aegean, near the Greek island of
Lesbos, and was returning to base
when the mishap occurred. - An Il-76TD operated by the
Algerian Air Force crashed shortly
after take-off from Boufarik airfield in
northern Algeria on April 11, killing
10 crew and 247 military personnel,
family members and civilians. The
aircraft, which carried the registration
7T-WIP (c/n 1043419636), came down
in a field near Bilda around 18.6 miles
(30km) south-west of Algiers. - Serbian Air Force G-4 Super
Galeb serial 23742 crashed near
Kovačica, around 25 miles (40km)
north-east of Belgrade, on April 11.
Despite ejecting from the trainer,
the pilot, who had been assigned to
the air force’s Technical Test Center,
was killed. The co-pilot survived but
was injured.- Luftwaffe CH-53G serial 84+26
was damaged when its main rotor
struck the control tower at Hassfurt-
Schweinfurt Airfield in Bavaria, while
it was taxiing on April 9. Debris from
the building and the helicopter
struck and killed an airport official on
the ground. - Two US Army aviators were
killed when AH-64E serial 17-03125
crashed during a training mission
at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on April
- The mishap occurred during a
night training mission and involved
an Apache operated by the 101st
Airborne Division.
- An Italian Navy AB212ASW
crashed in the Mediterranean Sea
while conducting a night training
mission as part of Operation ‘Mare
Sicuro’ (Secure Sea) on April 6. One
crew member was killed in the
mishap, which occurred while the
helicopter was preparing to land
aboard the Italian Navy patrol vessel
Comandante Borsini (P 491). - Both crew aboard a Republic
of Korea Air Force F-15K were
killed when the fighter crashed into
a mountain near Chilgok, North
Gyeongsang Province, on April 5. The
Slam Eagle was returning to Daegu
Air Base after conducting a mission
when it struck Mount Yoohak. - An F-16C assigned to the US Air
Force Air Demonstration Squadron,
the Thunderbirds, crashed during
a routine aerial demonstration
training sortie on the Nevada Test
and Training Range near Nellis AFB
on April 4. The pilot of Thunderbird 4,
Maj Stephen Del Bagno, was killed. - A US Marine Corps CH-53E
assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter
Squadron (HMH) 465 crashed north
of Plaster City, California, on April 3.
The accident occurred a few miles
from the US-Mexico border around
15 miles (24km) west of NAF El
Centro. Four crew aboard the Super
Stallion were killed. The helicopter
had departed from the Strategic
Expeditionary Landing Field at
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat
Center Twentynine Palms, California. - A US Marine Corps CH-53E
attached to Marine Medium Tilt-
rotor Squadron (VMM) 162 ‘suffered
structural damage’ in a hard landing
at a landing zone at the French
Army’s Arta Beach Training Center
(CECAP) in Djibouti on April 3. - An US Marine Corps AV-8B,
BuNo 165384, attached to Marine
Medium Tilt-rotor Squadron (VMM)
162 crashed during take-off from
Djibouti-Ambouli International
Airport on April 3. The pilot ejected
safely and suffered only minor
injuries. The Harrier II and the Super
Stallion assigned to the same unit
had both been deployed aboard
the amphibious assault ship USS
Iwo Jima (LHD 7) as part of the
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
(MEU) and were supporting the
‘Alligator Dagger’ training exercise
in international waters off the coast
of Djibouti. The reminder of the
exercise was cancelled following the
two mishaps. - Chengdu F-7M serial 1648
operated by the Myanmar Air
Force crashed into a paddy between
Chingon and Zeegon villages in
Toungoo Township, Bago region on
April 3. The pilot was killed when the
fighter came down around 3 miles
(5km) west of Toungoo air base. - A Mi-17V-5 operated by
the Indian Air Force crashed
while landing on a helipad
near the Kedarnath temple
in the Rudraprayag district of
Uttarakhandon, injuring six
personnel including two pilots
on April 3. The mishap reportedly
occurred while the helicopter
was carrying an external load of
construction materials.- The pilot of an unidentified
Royal Air Force of Oman aircraft
was killed in a crash that occurred
during a training mission on April 1. - A T-35 trainer operated by the
Chilean Air Force crashed within
the confines of the El Bosque air
base, near Santiago, on March 29.
Both the student and instructor pilot
aboard the Pillán were killed. - Both pilots aboard Grob
G120A-K serial KAF-720 (c/n 85063)
operated by the Kenya Air Force
escaped serious injury when the
aircraft crashed near Taita Taveta
on March 28. - The pilot of a Turkish Air
Force F-16C was killed when the
fighter crashed near Ovaören in
the Gülşehir district of the central
Nevsehir province around 161
miles (260km) south-east of Ankara
on March 22. - Hawk T1A XX204 operated by the
Royal Air Force Red Arrows crashed
at RAF Valley, Anglesey, north Wales
on March 20. Although the pilot
ejected safely, the engineer in the
rear cockpit was killed. The trainer
was en route from RAF Scampton to
Valley when the mishap occurred. - A Hawk Mk132 trainer operated
by the Indian Air Force crashed
into a river bed during a training
flight on March 20. The pilot ejected
safely before the trainer came
down in the village of Mahuldangri
in the East Singhbhum district of
Jharkhand. The Hawk had departed
from Kalaikunda Air Force Station in
Kharagpur. - Diamond DA40 serial NAF-214
operated by the Nigerian Air Force’s
401 Flying Training School crashed
in Kaduna state on March 19. The
student pilot was not injured when
the trainer went down in Kauran
Dawa, Saminaka.
SAUDI KING AIR CONTRACT
THE SIERRA NEVADA Corporation
has been awarded a $14-million
Foreign Military Sales contract
modification from the US Air Force
Life Cycle Management Center that
provides for the modification of two
King Air 350 Extended Range aircraftwith intelligence, surveillance,
reconnaissance (ISR) and synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) capability for
Saudi Arabia. The effort includes the
delivery of a transportable ground
station, fixed ground station and
mission system trainer. Tom KaminskiKUWAIT ORDERS SUPER HORNETS
BOEING HAS RECEIVED a
$1.16-billion contract from US Naval
Air Systems Command to deliver 28
Super Hornets to the Kuwait Air
Force. The package includes 22
single-seat F/A-18E and six two-seat
F/A-18F variants as well as options for12 additional fighters. The Super
Hornets are intended as
replacements for Kuwait’s current
fleet of 27 F/A-18Cs. The US State
Department had previously approved
the sale of up to 40 Super Hornets to
Kuwait in late 2016. Tom Kaminski[NEWS] WORLD
22 June 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
18-22 World News C.indd 22 20/04/2018 14:48