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Britain
RAF jet hits lamp post
2004-07-13
An RAF Pilot has been grounded after hitting a lamppost at 600mph in his Jaguar attack jet. The wing clipped the airbase light at 54ft after the pilot, from RAF Cottishall, Norfolk, decided on a low-flying run after completing a week of training.
"Just one low pass, then to the club for drinks......oops!"
The collision happened at a coastal base near Akrotiri in Cyprus. According to reports in The Sun, the pilot wrestled control of the jet after the incident, headed out to sea before returning to the base and "slamming" the plane on the runway.
I'm sure his crew chief had a few words for him about "slamming" his plane into the runway.
RAF police have impounded the £25m plane and the pilot has been grounded pending an investigation. He now faces an official reprimand and court martial, which could cost him his wings.
The only thing he'll be flying now is a desk, if he's that lucky.
According to reports, the pilot was cleared by the control tower to make a pass of the base, but was ordered not to go below 200ft.
The lamp post was 54 feet high, methinks he was a tad bit low.
The collision is understood to have ripped off the tip of the wing containing navigational lighting and wiring. Repairs could cost as much as £2m.
Say goodbye to your pay.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that an investigation has been launched.
Nobody, but nobody flies lower than the RAF. I've seen video of them flying down the autoban during an exercise back in the day, going under the overpasses.
Posted by:Howard UK

#16  For more (interesting) info on that crash, checkout www.airdisaster.com.
Posted by: Rafael   2004-07-13 10:53:59 PM  

#15  You mean the "oh no,oh no" Voice was French? ALthough, it does make sense the French would try that. Less work hours for the pilots.
Posted by: Charles   2004-07-13 10:34:57 PM  

#14  That was a French voice - it was the Airbus maiden flight of the fully computerized flight system. There were pilots on board fighting the system. The humans were trying to land the plane and the software, for whatever reason, did not allow the final descent. I believe there is a full explanation out there somewhere.
Posted by: .com   2004-07-13 10:31:22 PM  

#13  .com: Did you hear the end of that Video? It was being tested by India I think.
Posted by: Charles   2004-07-13 10:27:19 PM  

#12  Lol, Barb - all over! Sorry, that answer sux...

The motherlode of snarky is Curmudgeonly & Skeptical - terpsboy is the champ, hands-down.

After that, well, there's Fark's photoshop contests, Worth1000's incredible wealth of photoshopped goodies, and sundry. When really desperate, and occasionally there's a jewel worth wading through the crap to get, you can try StileMedia. Warning - there is some truly disgusting shit there and I seldom find it worth the trouble, anymore. Any site you run across with decent pix, check to see if they link to others, of course.

Just a hobby. Hey, you oughtta see the 500+ weird vids I've collected!
Posted by: .com   2004-07-13 6:44:37 PM  

#11  Damn, .com! Where'd you get those pictures?

I'd love to have been on the ship, but I'm glad I wasn't in the van. ;-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-07-13 6:20:13 PM  

#10  Some semi-relevant pix:

Runway Traffic
Nozzle
Flyby
Posted by: .com   2004-07-13 4:28:23 PM  

#9  Ten-four.
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-07-13 3:21:33 PM  

#8  "Yew puttin' holes in mah aircraft agin, drivah?"
Posted by: mojo   2004-07-13 3:02:18 PM  

#7  GGI = Think he meant GWI, Gulf War I
LPD = USN amphibious landing ship
WTF = What The F*&K
Posted by: Steve   2004-07-13 2:04:52 PM  

#6  GGI? LPD? WTF?
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-07-13 1:14:41 PM  

#5  Along the same lines.... remembering the A-6 that took down the ski lift. An awful accident, but did anyone notice that the damn tail of the A-6 was intact on landing? Build more.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-07-13 12:38:26 PM  

#4  I remember knowing that the shooting was really getting ready to start in GGI when I saw video of a British Sea Harrier passing under the bow of an LPD to give the cousins an idea of what to expect if there was a leak in the air screen.

Posted by: Shipman   2004-07-13 12:36:31 PM  

#3  Mike:

If there's a .jpg of that photo, a lot of people would probably love to see it. (Hint! Hint!)
Posted by: Mike   2004-07-13 11:36:02 AM  

#2  ..At Nellis AFB, there are pics in the Range Control Center of an RAF Buccaneer that lost its radome after the pilot pulled UP into a telephone line. When my dad was visiting Scotland in the mid 90s, he was able to get a pic of two Harrier keeping formation...with his car.
NOBODY does low level like the RAF.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2004-07-13 11:24:31 AM  

#1  Craziest bastards you ever saw--they used to do hops for their low level certs in Oman, if they exceeded 50 feet they failed.

See, 54 feet. He fails.
Posted by: longtime lurker   2004-07-13 10:17:32 AM  

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