USMC Pilot Dead Following Pacific F/A 18 Crash

[tomahawk6]

Captain Resilard died after 10 hours in the water off Japan according to info from his Garmin Fenix 3.

https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/marine-pilot-survived-in-sea-for-nearly-10-hours-after-deadly-midair-collision-smartwatch-shows-1.607406

- mod edit to clarify thread title -

 

[dapaterson]

ProPublica has done significant research into the crash.


Faulty Equipment, Lapsed Training, Repeated Warnings: How a Preventable Disaster Killed Six Marines

Marine commanders did not act on dozens of pleas for additional manpower, machinery and time. When a training exercise ended in death, leadership blamed the very men they had neglected.

https://www.propublica.org/article/marines-hornet-squadron-242-crash-pacific-resilard

 

[Old Sweat]

Are we seeing a result of a culture that made a virtue of overcoming obstacles, and confused the virtue with accepting dangerous conditions? I submit any failings were not confined to the service and area in question, but might be service wide. And I submit it sounds like something we would do, rather than admit we could not do an ordered task. I personally heard a GO blow up when faced with a recommendation that we admit a task was beyond our capabilities within current resources, rather than invoke the "army can do attitude".

Thinking back to circa 1990, it seems to me that serviceability was also a problem with USN/USMC/USAF operational squadrons deployed during the work-up phases for Gulf 1. My counterpart in the Pentagon expressed amazement at the serviceability rate of our CF-18 squadron deployed to the region, as it was very much higher than their average rate.

 

[dimsum]

I personally heard a GO blow up when faced with a recommendation that we admit a task was beyond our capabilities within current resources, rather than invoke the "army can do attitude".

I mean, when the recruiting and training system is specifically designed to weed out non-Type-A people, what do we expect? 

 

[Jarnhamar]

Marine commanders did not act on dozens of pleas for additional manpower, machinery and time. When a training exercise ended in death, leadership blamed the very men they had neglected.

Wow

 

[tomahawk6]

Not having inhouse SAR and relying on the Japanese with a 2 hour response time obviously didn't work for the pilot but at least his rear seater got picked up. Maybe the USMC should buy a better survival suit.

 

[Jarnhamar]

[quote author=tomahawk6]Maybe the USMC should buy a better survival suit.
[/quote]

Investigators noted that neither Resilard nor his weapons officer, who also ejected but was rescued from an inflatable raft, were wearing anti-exposure suits that can prolong survival in cold water.

 

[tomahawk6]

Pilots asked about wearing survival suits said they were too bulky and "a pain". So wear a suit that can save your life or drown without one. I will opt for uncomfortable every time .

 

[SupersonicMax]

T6: There are specific rules on when we are required to wear immersion suits and not.  If the combined Water/Air temperature is greater than 31 deg C and the water temperature is greater than 13 deg C, you don’t have to wear it.  After that, it’s a risk management exercise on the crew’s part.  I, myself, will never wear it if I don’t have to.  Some smart people backed by studies determined that when those conditions are met, I should be able to survive long enough to be rescued.  I am not going to cover every single contingencies.  This is one of many things that can go wrong.  The cockpit is cramped enough.