J
jrhume
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Aircraft Accident, late 1943
My Dad arrived in England in October, 1943. During the next several months he was stationed at several airfields, primarily engaged in aircraft service and repair. One airfield was home to a number of P-47s.
One day, while walking across the ramp, he saw a lone Jug overfly the field at about 3,000 feet, AGL. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but the aircraft suddenly nosed over and dived straight into the ground, impacting about 100 yards from Dad. The pilot never had a chance to escape.
Over the next month or so, other Jugs were lost in similar accidents. Finally, an uncontrolled nose-over occurred when the pilot had enough time to bail out. He reported that his raft, which was stored in the seatpack, had suddenly inflated. The inflating raft pushed against the stick so hard he couldn't hold it back, even with his legs braced and both hands on the stick!
Investigation of the other crashes showed that at least some of the accidents had been caused just that way, with the raft inflating for no reason. Subsequently, the pilot's survival raft was replaced with a different kind, and possibly moved to a different location. At the time, Jug pilots took to wearing a survival knife strapped to their lower leg, where they could reach it and slash the raft should it inflate.
Aircraft Accident, late 1967
When my helicopter unit arrived in-country, we were initially based at Bien Hoa. The Army and the Air Force shared the airbase and our area was perpendicular to and about a quarter mile from one of the main runways.
Bien Hoa was never quiet. The Air Force side was home to all sorts of tactical aircraft, including A-1 Skyraiders, VNAF A-37 and F-5 fighters, F-4 Phantoms, F-100 Super Sabres, and even a couple of F-102 interceptors. In addition, there was a constant stream of transport aircraft of every type and description. The place was noisy.
One afternoon I was in Operations and noticed that the place had gotten quiet, really quiet. I went outside to see what was up. An F-100 approached from my left, about 1000 feet above the runway. The ship wasn't trailing smoke and showed no obvious signs of damage, but clearly something was wrong. Only an emergency would have caused the Bien Hoa controllers to have cleared other aircraft out of the landing pattern.
As the F-100 passed in front of me, it was obvious that he was attempting a go-around. The gear went up and the engine noise rose considerably. Suddenly, there was an explosion and a large ball of flame where the airplane had been. The ship emerged from the fireball less the entire tail section. It rolled violently to the right and as it did the canopy came off and I could briefly see the pilot's helmet, until the cockpit rolled out of sight. The plane made an arc across the sky, trailing flame, and turning slightly to the right. The pilot ejected as the plane rolled upright. He and the F-100 went into the ground less than 100 feet apart. The pilot never separated from the seat and died on impact. The plane killed six other guys in a mess hall.
The F-100 lacked a zero-altitude ejection seat. I don't know why. The pilot did everything right. He stayed cool and delayed his ejection until the plane rolled upright, but time and altitude just ran out. The tail explosion was caused by an afterburner explosion. From what I was told, the F-100 was prone to such accidents.
My Dad arrived in England in October, 1943. During the next several months he was stationed at several airfields, primarily engaged in aircraft service and repair. One airfield was home to a number of P-47s.
One day, while walking across the ramp, he saw a lone Jug overfly the field at about 3,000 feet, AGL. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but the aircraft suddenly nosed over and dived straight into the ground, impacting about 100 yards from Dad. The pilot never had a chance to escape.
Over the next month or so, other Jugs were lost in similar accidents. Finally, an uncontrolled nose-over occurred when the pilot had enough time to bail out. He reported that his raft, which was stored in the seatpack, had suddenly inflated. The inflating raft pushed against the stick so hard he couldn't hold it back, even with his legs braced and both hands on the stick!
Investigation of the other crashes showed that at least some of the accidents had been caused just that way, with the raft inflating for no reason. Subsequently, the pilot's survival raft was replaced with a different kind, and possibly moved to a different location. At the time, Jug pilots took to wearing a survival knife strapped to their lower leg, where they could reach it and slash the raft should it inflate.
Aircraft Accident, late 1967
When my helicopter unit arrived in-country, we were initially based at Bien Hoa. The Army and the Air Force shared the airbase and our area was perpendicular to and about a quarter mile from one of the main runways.
Bien Hoa was never quiet. The Air Force side was home to all sorts of tactical aircraft, including A-1 Skyraiders, VNAF A-37 and F-5 fighters, F-4 Phantoms, F-100 Super Sabres, and even a couple of F-102 interceptors. In addition, there was a constant stream of transport aircraft of every type and description. The place was noisy.
One afternoon I was in Operations and noticed that the place had gotten quiet, really quiet. I went outside to see what was up. An F-100 approached from my left, about 1000 feet above the runway. The ship wasn't trailing smoke and showed no obvious signs of damage, but clearly something was wrong. Only an emergency would have caused the Bien Hoa controllers to have cleared other aircraft out of the landing pattern.
As the F-100 passed in front of me, it was obvious that he was attempting a go-around. The gear went up and the engine noise rose considerably. Suddenly, there was an explosion and a large ball of flame where the airplane had been. The ship emerged from the fireball less the entire tail section. It rolled violently to the right and as it did the canopy came off and I could briefly see the pilot's helmet, until the cockpit rolled out of sight. The plane made an arc across the sky, trailing flame, and turning slightly to the right. The pilot ejected as the plane rolled upright. He and the F-100 went into the ground less than 100 feet apart. The pilot never separated from the seat and died on impact. The plane killed six other guys in a mess hall.
The F-100 lacked a zero-altitude ejection seat. I don't know why. The pilot did everything right. He stayed cool and delayed his ejection until the plane rolled upright, but time and altitude just ran out. The tail explosion was caused by an afterburner explosion. From what I was told, the F-100 was prone to such accidents.
