18 Apr 2008: Military jet crashes in Sask., pilots eject safely

[Nfld Sapper]

Article Link

Military jet crashes in Sask., pilots eject safely
Updated Fri. Apr. 18 2008 8:49 PM ET

The Canadian Press

Moose Jaw, Sask. -- Two pilots in a military training jet have safely ejected before their aircraft crashed at a base in Saskatchewan.


A spokeswoman for 15 Wing Moose Jaw said in a news release the CT-155 Hawk aircraft crashed about 4 p.m. local time.


The crash happened within the base's perimeter during a routine training mission.


Capt. Genevieve Mitchell says both pilots safely ejected.


The Hawk is used for advanced jet pilot training under the NATO Flight Training in Canada program at the base, which trains pilots from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Hungary and Singapore as well as Canada.


A pilot and student both ejected from a Hawk on May 14, 2004 when a seagull was sucked into the jet trainer's engine.


The student was unhurt but the instructor suffered a broken femur.


The crew had been doing `touch-and-go' landings at the time.


The plane crashed into a farmer's field.


At that time, it was believed to be the only ejection from a Hawk jet in the approximately eight years they've been used for training at 15 Wing.

 

[SupersonicMax]

A little more info.

http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11403&Itemid=374

Plane Crash at 15 Wing Moose Jaw       
Saturday, 19 April 2008 

Two injured, but no-one was killed, when a CT 155 Hawk crashed during a routine training flight at 15 Wing Moose Jaw yesterday afternoon.

Base officials says both pilots, Second-Lieutenant Rock Veilleux with the Canadian Air Force and Major Frank Wagener with the German Air Force, managed to eject safely.  They are in Moose Jaw hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A flight safety team will be on sight today to investigate the acccident.  The remaining fleet of CT-155 Hawks have been grounded until the investigation determines there is no risk in flying the planes.

The crash took place within the 15 Wing Moose Jaw perimeter.  15 Wing Moose Jaw is the site of the Nato Flying Training in Canada operated cooperatively by the Government of Canada and Bombardier.  They offer basic and advanced pilot training and fighter pilot lead-in training to NATO and other allied countries.  (vmf 04/19/08)

Glad both are okay.  I know both very well.

Max

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Article Link

Pilots eject safely before military plane crashes
Last Updated: Friday, April 18, 2008 | 10:54 PM CT Comments14Recommend32The Canadian Press
Two pilots in a military training jet were able to eject safely from their aircraft before it crashed Friday afternoon during a routine training mission at a base in Saskatchewan.

The CT-155 Hawk crashed about 4 p.m. local time Friday within the perimeter of 15 Wing Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw. 

"I'm very relieved to announce the air crew ejected safely," Acting Wing Commander Lt.-Col. Paul Goddard told reporters at a news conference late Friday night.

"They were immediately met by medical response and transported to the Moose Jaw hospital. They sustained non life-threatening injuries and are currently being evaluated and receiving medical care."

The two pilots are German Air Force Maj. Frank Wagener and Canadian Forces 2nd Lt. Rock Veilleux, of Larouche, Que.

Wagener is an instructor at the training school at the base, and Veilleux a student, Goddard said.

The ages of the pilots were not released.

Goddard said the aircraft had just taken off and was flying level in a climb heading away from the airfield when it encountered problems and turned back to return to the airfield, "at which point the air crew had to make the decision to eject."

A flight safety team is scheduled to arrive Saturday to begin investigating the accident, said Capt. Genevieve Mitchell, public affairs officer for the base.

The Hawk fleet will be grounded and "flying operations will resume once we are satisfied there is no inherent risk," Mitchell added.

The Hawk is used for advanced jet pilot training under the NATO Flight Training in Canada program, which trains pilots from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Hungary and Singapore as well as Canada, at the Saskatchewan base.

On May 14, 2004, a pilot and student both ejected from a Hawk when a seagull was sucked into the jet's engine during a flight from 15 Wing. The plane crashed into a farmer's field.

The student was unhurt but the instructor suffered a broken femur.

It was the only ejection from a Hawk jet in the approximately eight years the aircraft had been used for training at 15 Wing.

An accidental ejection from a CT-156 Harvard II training jet in April 2007 at the base caused minor injuries to a flight instructor and a student.

The plane was still on the ground when the student was ejected.

A Canadian Forces report on the incident determined that a tangled communications cord that got wrapped through the handle of the ejection seat was the likely cause of the ejection

 

[midgetcop]

I'm relieved to hear that they're alive and safe. My wishes to their speedy recovery and return to flight. 

Is it still too early to say: 'RIP seagull'..?

 

[JesseWZ]

Broken Femur?!
Ouch.

 

[aesop081]

Is it still too early to say: 'RIP seagull'..?

Yes it is too early

 

[SupersonicMax]

Broken Femur?!
Ouch.

Where do you read that........

 

[Yrys]

I would say here :

The student was unhurt but the instructor suffered a broken femur.

 

[SupersonicMax]

I would say here :

On May 14, 2004, a pilot and student both ejected from a Hawk when a seagull was sucked into the jet's engine during a flight from 15 Wing. The plane crashed into a farmer's field.

The student was unhurt but the instructor suffered a broken femur.

If you read a little before, it says it was related to the 2004 crash.  I think we're in 2008 now...

 

[Yrys]

If you read a little before, it says it was related to the 2004 crash.  I think we're in 2008 now...

Yes, but I think it's where JesseWZ read it (he didn't say when the femur he was speaking of had been broken) ...

 

[Strike]

The first article notes the broken femur in this ejection as well.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Necropost updated with final report re:  cause

A Hawk Mk115 aircraft, crewed by a student pilot in the front seat and a Hawk Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) in the rear seat, was on a student syllabus instrument training flight in clear weather when the QFI noticed a sudden and definite change in the engine sound followed by a momentary flash of the T6NL warning light.  The QFI took control, completed the initial actions, declared an emergency and turned towards the airfield with the intent of completing a Precautionary Forced Landing (PFL).  Although the aircraft initially had sufficient altitude to complete a successful PFL, the pilot flew a non-standard PFL profile and was unable to reach the runway.  Both pilots ejected successfully at low altitude about 1 mile prior to the runway but sustained serious injuries during the ejection sequence and subsequent parachute landings.  The aircraft was destroyed on impact.

The investigation found that the engine had failed and subsequently seized as a result of a Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) blade loss.  The blade loss and related collateral damage led to an out-of-balance situation resulting in severe vibrations and the eventual bearing failure and seizure of the engine.  The blade loss was traced to a fatigue crack that had developed between the LPT blade root and platform.  The fatigue cracking was originally thought to be the result of unsatisfactory finishing of the LPT blades during the manufacturing process; however, a subsequent failure of a 617 hour conformal LPT blade in engine 7825 on 10 June 2011 indicates that the failure mechanism is not restricted to those blades with an improper corner radius.

Although the manufacturer implemented a new manufacturing process that was verified via a vendor quality audit to satisfy appropriate airworthiness standards and the LPT blade life was reduced from 2,000 hours to 1,000 hours, this activity did not prevent the subsequent LPT failure. Following the 10 June 2011 LPT blade failure, the blade life has been further reduced to 400 hours and the investigation to determine the root cause is ongoing.

The reason why the pilot flew a non-standard PFL pattern could not be conclusively determined.

A number of other preventive measures related to Aviation Life Support Equipment and training were implemented immediately following the accident.  Additional preventive measures related to training and documentation are being addressed.

DFS web site, 11 Jan 12