This happened last May

[ktcanuck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB5CXlEALJ0

Is any one aware of the cause yet?

May 2009 that is!

Edited by ktcanuck on Wednesday 20th October 18:41

[Silent1]

flared way too late

[Eric Mc]

Hadn't seen that before.

I can see why he decided to punch out.

[XG332]

Took his time to get out.

[Eric Mc]

I expect he intended to stay with the aircraft but changed his mind when flames started to flare up around his cockpy.
I assume that the fire came from ruptured drop tanks.

[DannyVTS]

Eric Mc said:

I expect he intended to stay with the aircraft but changed his mind when flames started to flare up around his cockpy.
I assume that the fire came from ruptured drop tanks.

Looked like he fell quite hard is that normal from the height he went from?

[Eric Mc]

No - that's why the undercarriage collapsed on landing.

[shouldbworking]

Seem some contradictory opinions on this. I'm sure it was reported in RAF news as engine failure on approach, with a focus on the pilots decision to stay with the aircraft as long as possible to steer it away from other parked aircraft.

Goes to show with a steep approach to avoid rpg / small arms fire it leaves even less margin for things to go wrong.

[Eric Mc]

I don't think staying with the aircraft had much to do with steering it. It was essentially a toboggan and very little directional control would have been available to the pilot. My hunch is that he just decided to stay in the plane until it came to a rest but changed his mind when the fire broke out.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

No - that's why the undercarriage collapsed on landing.

I think he meant the pilot landed hard, after ejection.

[Eric Mc]

dr_gn said:

Eric Mc said:

No - that's why the undercarriage collapsed on landing.

I think he meant the pilot landed hard, after ejection.

I see.

The answer is probably no. Ejection is not an opttion taken lightly.

[ktcanuck]

If you look closely at the elevator it does not appear to move when he increases power just prior to "landing". It occurs to me that he may have had a stuck elevator and was "trimming" using power. The power increase just prior to touchdown pitched him up and arrested the descent somewhat. It was just so far out of whack for just a mistimed flare.

Anyway, this is why I am asking - to see what the real cause was.

Edited by ktcanuck on Thursday 21st October 14:05

[Beyond Rational]

Wonder what the offical reports say?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article63...

[scubadude]

XG332 said:

Took his time to get out.

Probably stowing his tray table and moving his seat to upright first... :-)

He certainly slapped it down hard, surprised the way the radar popped open (I assume, the nose cone?) impact like that might have stunned him somewhat?

Certainly looks like the flames provided some "motivation" to bang out!

[davepoth]

ejecting out of the plane is very much a "last resort" sort of thing. I guess he was hoping to jump out normally once it had stopped, which would be safer since it doesn't involve explosions and stuff. Once he saw the fire he knew the plane was a wreck, so it didn't really matter.