An Israel Air Force "Baz" fighter was forced to make an emergency landing last week, but the cause was due to a pelican.
The IDF Spokesperson's Office revealed Monday that last Thursday's incident in which an Israeli Air Force F-15E "Baz" fighter was forced to make an emergency landing was caused by a flock of pelicans who flew into the pilot's flight path during takeoff. Birds are often a cause for concern by pilots in Israel.
One of the pelicans was sucked into an air intake, causing one of the Baz's engines to catch fire, but the pilot and navigator were successful in executing a quick emergency landing.
Fire crews put out the blaze shortly after the plane landed. No one was injured in the incident.
"Suddenly, we saw the plane on fire in the air," said an IAF officer at the Tel Nof air traffic control tower. "The plane immediately turned to land and we called fire and rescue services. This was an unusual and frightening event, but in the end everything functioned properly."
The twin engine F-15E is known for its remarkable durability and has a reputation as the world's preeminent all-weather strike fighter.
In 2009 IAF pilot Tzvi Nedavi landed his F-15 after a midair collision during a training flight in which a wing was sheared off of his fighter - a feat engineers at McDonnell Douglas insisted was impossible until Israel shipped them the plane for inspection.
Nedavi said at the time, "They realized that the F-15 has such a wide body that, if you are going fast enough, you can fly it like a rocket."
Video documenting dramatic moments when F-15 suffered bird-strike shows how crew kept cool despite unexpected incident.
A video documenting the emergency landing of an F-15 jet following a bird-strike shows the crew's resourcefulness in handling the crisis and captures the drama which could have ended in disaster.
An inquiry into the incident found that the F-15 took off from the Tel Nof Air Base for a routine training flight. Once airborne, the crew spotted a flock of pelicans flying in their direction and changed their course so not to collide with the birds.
Unfortunately, five pelicans still hit the aircraft, with some hitting the F-15's engines directly. The jet's right engine sustained some damage but remained operational, while its left engine caught on fire and malfunctioned.
The crew was able to land safely at Tel Nof. The inquiry found that the two were able to land and exit the aircraft within 50 seconds of the engine catching fire.
Watch as drama unfolds
http://www.ynetnews.com
An inquiry into the incident found that the F-15 took off from the Tel Nof Air Base for a routine training flight. Once airborne, the crew spotted a flock of pelicans flying in their direction and changed their course so not to collide with the birds.
Unfortunately, five pelicans still hit the aircraft, with some hitting the F-15's engines directly. The jet's right engine sustained some damage but remained operational, while its left engine caught on fire and malfunctioned.
The crew was able to land safely at Tel Nof. The inquiry found that the two were able to land and exit the aircraft within 50 seconds of the engine catching fire.
Watch as drama unfolds
http://www.ynetnews.com
An IAF fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after one of its engines caught fire during a routine training flight.
Initial details suggest the F-15's engine caught fire due to a bird-strike. The jet landed safely at the Tel Nof Air Base. The pilots were unharmed.
A military source confirmed the incident, adding: "Around 11:20am, an F-15 on a training flight was hit by a bird. The pilot and copilot followed procedure and immediately aborted the flight landing safely.
"The jet is currently undergoing a mechanical and technical inspection to determine whether it sustained any damage."
Bird strikes, or BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard) are considered a significant threat to both civilian and military flight safety. In most cases, a bird hits the windscreen or flies into the engines, causing them to fail.
Luckily the majority of BASH incident do not cause human fatalities.
No comments:
Post a Comment