Flight International - 04

Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Pilot error led to F-35C loss
Inexperience with performing high-g recovery manoeuvre
and failure to select approach power compensation system
resulted in January 2022 crash aboard aircraft carrier
Ryan Finnerty Tampa
The US Navy (USN) has
blamed pilot error for the
January 2022 crash of a
Lockheed Martin F-35C
aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl
Vinson which destroyed the fighter
and injured six deck personnel.
In written findings published after
an investigation, Vice Admiral Karl
Thomas, commander of the USN’s
Seventh Fleet, says the incident
followed a “common manoeuvre”
– known as expedited recovery
breaking – but that this had never
been attempted before by the
mishap pilot, or MP.
“As a result of lack of familiarity
with the manoeuvre, the MP lost
situational awareness and failed to
complete his landing check list,”
Thomas says. “Specifically, the MP
remained in manual mode when he
should have been – and thought he
was – in an automated command
mode designed to reduce pilot
workload during landings.
“During an expedited recovery,
an aircraft uses g-forces to decelerate
over the course of a 360° turn,
dropping the landing gear when the
aircraft is below landing gear transition
speed,” the report says.
Landing checks
Notably, when breaking aft of
or overhead the carrier the pilot
has reduced time to configure
the aircraft and conduct landing
checks, the USN says. The report
cites this as a critical factor, alongside
the pilot’s inexperience.
During the incident, the mishap
F-35C was travelling at 400kt
(740km/h) when the pilot executed
a series of 7g breaking turns while
in maximum afterburner to reduce
speed and approach the carrier for
landing. However, the pilot neglected
to engage the approach power
compensation (APC) system: an
onboard tool designed to reduce
workload during landing by automating
some tasks.
Instead, the pilot inadvertently remained
in manual approach mode,
resulting in a high landing approach
made at an airspeed of 180kt – well
above the 140kt the USN says was
ideal for the scenario. The fighter’s
throttle had also been reduced to
idle, according to flight data, which
left the F-35 “extremely underpowered”
on approach for landing.
US Navy
Super Hornet facing
2025 production end
Forty years after the carrier-based
fighter entered use, Boeing outlines
plan to shutter programme following
completion of remaining orders
Jon Hemmerdinger Tampa
Boeing has announced plans
to end production of its
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
with a last delivery in late
2025, barring the receipt of additional
export orders.
Announcing the decision on 23
February, Boeing said production
work could be extended until 2027
if a new order is received. Current
sales opportunities include an Indian
navy need to acquire a new type
for operation from its aircraft carriers,
where the US design faces competition
from Dassault’s Rafale M.
Boeing and the US Navy (USN)
last year demonstrated the Super
Hornet’s ability to operate from
a ski-jump ramp at Naval Station
Hansa in Goa, in pursuit of the
57-aircraft requirement.
Current backlog
Boeing, which produces F/A-18s
in St Louis, Missouri, has a current
backlog of 76 examples for lead operator
the USN, Cirium data shows.
US Navy
More than 2,000 F/A-18s have been
delivered since type entered service
“We are planning for our future,
and building fighter aircraft is in
our DNA,” says Boeing air dominance
vice-president and St Louis
site leader Steve Nordlund.
“As we invest in and develop
the next era of capability, we are
applying the same innovation and
expertise that made the F/A-18 a
workhorse for the US Navy and air
34 Flight International April 2023