The U.S. Navy has ruled a fighter pilot’s mistake caused the crash of a $115 million F-35C stealth jet on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson last year, which injured several sailors (including the pilot).
The incident occurred on Jan 24, 2022, when the pilot from the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 was making a specialized landing approach for the first time called a Sierra Hotel or “Shit Hot” break, where the pilot uses G-forces to slow down through a 360-degree turn before dropping the gear to land.
However, he approached the ship underpower, unaware that a built-in aid to help control the jet’s power during landing was turned off.
And because it was his first time, he had reduced time to configure the jet and conduct landing checks, and missed the last check.
The report notes he “was in manual mode when he should have been (and thought he was) in an automated command mode, designed to reduce pilot workload during landings.”
Once he realized the problem he pushed the throttle to full afterburner to climb, but it was too late. The jet slammed onto the carrier’s ramp, ripping the main landing gear off and skidding across the deck, throwing debris everywhere as the pilot ejected and the jet plunged 12,000 feet to the bottom of the South China Sea.
An EA-18G Growler jet was damaged in the accident, causing over $2.5 million in damage, in addition to another estimated $120,000 in damage to the ship’s flight deck.
Read the FULL REPORT HERE
The report made it clear, that there was no reckless manner or malicious intent by the pilot, who was a top performing junior officers in Carrier Air Wing 2. He was on his first deployment, mentally fit, healthy, and had 650 total flight hours (370 in the F-35C). The jet itself had just over 1400 flight hours on it.
The Navy will be executing a number of the investigation’s recommendations, including internal and external indicators to tell pilots and ground crews (LSOs) that they are not in the flight mode that they might think they are.
The pilot is still in the Navy, but no longer flying.
