Blackout Led To Accident At MCAS Beaufort
The US Navy's final
report on the April 2007 loss of an F/A-18 pilot during a
performance of the Blue Angels aerial demonstration team concludes
the pilot failed to properly tense his muscles to counter the
g-forces from a high-speed turn.
As ANN reported, Blue Angel
#6, piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis (right), impacted a
residential area near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South
Carolina near the end of an April 21, 2007 performance. Davis'
plane pulled an extremely tight turn to rejoin the formation just
before the mishap.
"In his final turn to attempt to rendezvous with the other
Blues, he put a very fast, high-G turn on the aircraft. A real
aggressive turn," Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a Navy spokesman and former
aviator, told the Associated Press. The turn subjected Davis to six
Gs of force.
The Blue Angels fly without the benefit of G-suits, which
prevent pilots from blacking out during such maneuvers by inflating
air bladders against the lower body to force blood upward to the
head and heart. Instead, Blues are taught to handle the forces by
tensing their abdominal and leg muscles.
It isn't bravado that keeps the Blue Angels from wearing
G-suits, but rather the center-mounted control stick of the
F/A-18.
Inflation of a suit's air bladders could cause the pilot to bump
the stick, putting the plane into an uncommanded attitude during
precise maneuvering. Members of the USAF Thunderbirds demonstration
team do wear g-suits, as the side-mounted controller of the F-16
provides room for the bladders to inflate.
"Kevin had performed these maneuvers in training and in the
fleet. He had done them in similar situations and he had a history
of performing them well without any problems," Hanzlik said... but,
apparently, not in the accident. Due to the high forces, Davis
likely suffered a temporary loss of blood flow to his brain,
leading to tunnel vision and disorientation.
In a heartbreaking statement, the report also notes Davis did
try to recover, "and in the last few seconds he may have been aware
of his low altitude and was attempting to save the aircraft," said
the report by Marine Lt. Col. Javier J. Ball.
The AP obtained the accident report through a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request.
The investigation also found the Blues violated Navy policy by
allowing the waiver allowing the pilots to fly without g-suits to
expire in 2005 -- a lapse Ball called "a lack of careful attention
to operating requirements." The waiver was reinstated following
Davis' accident.