Aircraft Crash Notification

[John]

Upgraded Sea Harrier Crashes Off Goa Coast
A Sea Harrier of the Indian Navy crashed this morning, minutes before 12PM off the coast of Goa. The pilot, Lt Cdr Saurav C Saxena of the White Tigers Squadron was killed in the crash. A court of inquiry (COI) has been ordered. This is the first of the nine newly upgraded (Limited Upgrade) Sea Harriers of the Navy. According to sources, the aircraft was flying a mission in support of a Naval missile corvette about 20 miles off the coast of Goa when it went down. Personnel on board the warship reported witnessing the aircraft impact the water.

The depth of the sea at the point of impact is only about 40-meters, and therefore the Navy is hoping to rapidly complete a salvage operation. Some parts have already been salvaged. Investigations into the crash, like all previous inquiries involving the Sea Harrier, will be deeply difficult since the aircraft does not have a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or even an accident-oriented Cockpit Voice Recorder (except for training purposes). Lt Cdr Saxena is noted to have been a highly professional pilot, with a good deal of experience in fleet support missions.

Incidentally, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta was in Goa on a farewell visit at the time of the crash.

LiveFist - The Best of Indian Defence: Upgraded Sea Harrier Crashes Off Goa Coast

RIP

 

[I-G]

Belarusian jet crashes at Polish air show, 2 dead

Updated on Sunday, August 30, 2009, 23:38 IST Tagsolish air show, Belarusian jet crash, 2 dead

Warsaw: A Belarusian fighter jet crashed o Sunday during an air show in central Poland, killing both pilots on board the two-seater plane, officials said.

The Su-27 jet went down while performing maneuvers at a festival in Radom, 105 kilometers south of Warsaw.


Footage broadcast on state television in Poland showed the plane turning in the air, then dropping behind trees. A giant cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon. The Su-27 was not near the tarmac or crowds attending the air show when it crashed.

The two Belarusian pilots were killed, the air show's organizers said in a statement. A joint Polish-Belarusian panel of experts was investigating the cause.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the crash was likely caused by birds becoming entangled in an engine.

When the plane began to lose altitude during a stunt flight, the pilots "did not eject and steered the plane away from the town, avoiding graver consequences at the cost of their lives," ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Remenchuk said.

He identified the pilots as Col. Alexander Morfitsky and Col Alexander Zhuravlevich. He said Morfitsky was deputy commander of an air force unit in western Belarus, and Zhuravlevich was deputy commander of a fighter base.

Belarusian jet crashes at Polish air show, 2 dead

 

[RPK]

fullstory

Nine feared dead in Indonesian military air crash

Jakarta, Sept 7 (AFP) Nine people were feared dead today after an Indonesian Navy aircraft disappeared in a remote part of Indonesian Borneo, local television reported.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Nomad plane around 0100 pm (0500 GMT) in East Kalimantan province, Navy spokesman Iskandar Sitompul was quoted as saying by Metro TV news.

"We lost contact with the aircraft when it was on a maritime patrolling mission in eastern Indonesia," he added.

Rescue operations are being carried out to locate the missing plane, Sitompul said.

"We're still finding out who was on board the plane," he added.

Archipelagic Indonesia relies heavily on air transport but has one of Asia's worst air safety records.

 

[RPK]

13 missing in Kazakhstan helicopter crash: Official - Rest of World - World - NEWS - The Times of India

ALMATY: Thirteen people were missing on Tuesday after a Kazakh border patrol helicopter crashed in a remote region in the south of the Central Asian
state, the state security services said.

All on board were members of the state security service (KNB, ex-KGB), which is responsible for border security, a spokeswoman said.

"At 10:30 am (1000 IST) communication with the helicopter was lost," the spokeswoman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity in line with her responsibilities.

"Information was given by workers of the Ugamsk forest service that the helicopter had crashed in the area of the Ugamsk Gorge," in the southern Kazygurtsk region, she added.

The troops were headed to reinforce the border with neighbouring Uzbekistan when the helicopter went down, she said, after Kazakhstan received information from Tashkent about an illegal armed group operating in the area.

"We received information from the border service of the National Security Services (SNB, ex-KGB) of Uzbekistan that six gunmen had planned to illegally cross the Kazakh-Uzbek border," she said.

A string of incidents, from a suicide bombing in Uzbekistan in May to gun battles with suspected militants in Tajikistan this summer, have ratcheted up tensions in this predominantly Muslim region which borders Afghanistan.

 

[Sridhar]

MIG 21 crashes in Punjab, pilot killed

Muktsar, Sep 10 A MIG 21 fighter aircraft of IAF today crashed in Muktsar district of Punjab, killing the pilot.

The war plane was on a routine sortie and had taken off from Bhatinda airbase, Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal told PTI over phone.

The crash occurred Bhaliana village on Muktsar-Bhatinda road, about 20 kms from here, killing the pilot, Lt Manu Akhori on the spot, he said.

Senior officials of IAF, police and from the Muktsar civil administration have rushed to the spot. - (Agencies) Sep 10, 2009

ChennaiOnline News : MIG 21 crashes in Punjab, pilot killed

 

[RPK]

Two pilots killed in Pakistani military air crash IDRW.ORG

Two Pakistan Air Force pilots were killed Thursday when their Mushshak plane crashed in the eastern province of Punjab, the military said.


The propeller-driven aircraft was on a routine flight when it went down near the garrison town of Rawalpindi, apparently because of a mechanical failure. The crash did not cause damage on the ground.
The Mushshak is the air force’s primary training aircraft and is not equipped with ejectable seats.

An inquiry was launched to ascertain the cause of the crash.

 

[RPK]

Son of late Israeli astronaut dies in plane crash- Hindustan Times

The son of an Israeli astronaut who died in the space shuttle Columbia disaster six years ago was killed today when his F-16 warplane crashed on a routine training flight, the Israeli military said.

The military identified the dead pilot as Lt Asaf Ramon, son of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first and only astronaut. Ilan Ramon was one of the seven crew members killed when the Columbia exploded as it re-entered the atmosphere after a mission in space.

A former fighter pilot who took part in Israel's bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, Ilan Ramon had been the payload specialist on the 2003 space flight. He is seen in Israel as a national hero, and Israeli radio and TV stations broke into their broadcasts today to report the news of his son's death.

Ramon's fighter jet crashed south of the West Bank city of Hebron. A Palestinian eyewitness told Channel 2 TV that the plane flew over the southern West Bank at low altitude before crashing.

"There was a huge fire," the unidentified witness said.

The air force commander, Maj Gen Ido Nehushtan, called an official inquiry and halted training in Israel's F-16 squadrons "until further notice", the military said in a statement.

Lt Ramon, 21, excelled in pilot training. In June he received a presidential honour and was given his pilot's wings by President Shimon Peres.

 

[RPK]

Iran military plane crashes during annual parade: IRNA - Yahoo! Canada News

TEHRAN (AFP) - A military plane taking part in Iran's annual army parade crashed near Tehran on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported.


"One plane which was conducting manoeuvres during the parade crashed in the village of Vali Abad," near Tehran, the report said. It did not say if there were any casualties.


After about 30 minutes, IRNA dropped the report from its website without giving any reason. No independent confirmation could be obtained concerning the reported crash.

 

[Sridhar]

Two Rafales of the French Navy collided today over the Mediterranean:

BY : Reuters
Two French Rafale fighter aicraft from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Mediterranean on Thursday during a test flight, the military said.
One pilot has been rescued, another is still missing.
The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation, is France’s most advanced fighter. Brazil has been negotiating to buy the aircraft, which would be its first export order.
The accident took place about 30 km from the southwestern city of Perpignan. A spokesman for Dassault had no comment.
“It was a training mission, not an operational mission. The search is continuing for the second pilot,” an armed forces spokeswoman said. A rescue vessel, a civilian helicopter and two military planes were taking part in the search.


Two Rafales of the French Navy collided today over the Mediterranean: IDRW.ORG

 

[wild goose]

Body of Rafale Pilot Located
By pierre tran


Paris - The French Navy said Oct. 1 it has found the body of the Rafale pilot whose aircraft crashed into the sea a week ago after a suspected collision with a second Rafale.

"During the night of Wednesday Sept. 30, the body of Francois Dufflot, test pilot of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA), was found on board his Rafale, 35 km east of Cap Béar," according to a joint statement from the French Navy, DGA and Ministry of Defense.


A robot submarine operated by the French Navy's unit for human diving and undersea intervention found the aircraft wreckage at a depth of 700 meters, Navy spokesman Capt. Hugues du Plessis d'Argentré told journalists. The pilot's body was in the cockpit.

The two aircraft were carrying mock-ups of armaments when they crashed into the sea, a DGA spokeswoman said. One Rafale carried mock-ups representing four of the GPS version of the AASM bomb, four Mica air-to-air missiles, two real external fuel pods and a canon without ammunition; the other Rafale carried mock-ups of six GBU 12 bombs, two Mica missiles, two real fuel pods and a canon without ammunition.

The second Rafale also crashed into the sea, but its pilot, Capt. Yann Beaufils, ejected and was picked up safely by helicopter.

The two Rafales were carrying heavy payloads as part of flying tests designed to calibrate the catapults on the carrier Charles de Gaulle, which is coming out of 18 months dry dock.

The French defense minister told his Brazilian counterpart, Nelson Jobin, in a Sept. 30 phone call that there was nothing to suggest the aircraft had caused the accident and that France would send information from the accident inquiry to Brazil.

Three separate inquiries - the Navy, the defense air accident board and a judicial investigation by the Genfarmerie Nationale - are being conducted into the accident, said Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire.

Cables will be used to bring up the wrecked plane in the next few weeks, weather permitting, with robots bringing up the smaller pieces.

Body of Rafale Pilot Located - Defense News

 

[RPK]

Two killed as MiG-23 fighter crashes at Tripoli air show | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire

TRIPOLI, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - Two pilots were killed when a Libyan Air Force MiG-23 Flogger fighter crashed on Wednesday in Tripoli during a demonstration flight, a Libyan Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The aircraft crashed about 2 kilometers from observation platforms at the Libyan Aviation Conference & Exhibition, which runs October 4-8.

It was earlier reported that only one pilot had died.

Production of the "third-generation" MiG-23 started in 1970 and ended in 1985 with over 5,000 aircraft built.

Its various modifications are currently operated by several former Soviet republics and traditional recipients of Soviet arms including Armenia, Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

 

[RPK]

2 Irish pilots confirmed dead in military plane crash | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - Irish rescuers have found the bodies of a flight instructor and a trainee pilot who died in a military plane crash on Monday, the Irish Times newspaper said citing the country's Air Corps officials.

According to earlier reports, a Pilatus PC-9 combat trainer went on a routine training flight together with two other planes but did not return to a home base at the Casement airfield located southwest of Dublin.

A number of local residents have reported seeing the aircraft in difficulty and preparing to make an emergency landing before it crashed in the mountains in Connemara, County Galway.

A Coast Guard helicopter, which has been dispatched to the scene together with ambulances and firefighters, found the wreckage of the plane early on Tuesday, the paper said.

The authorities have launched an investigation into the accident.

The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine two-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.

The aircraft has been adopted as combat trainer by a number of countries, including Ireland, which has eight PC-9s in service with the Army Air Corps.

The PC-9 has a generally good safety record, with only one fatal crash registered in the past. A PC-9M Pilatus belonging to the Cypriot National Guard crashed on September 10, 2005 near the village of Kolossi in Cyprus, killing two pilots.

 

[StealthSniper]

F-16 crashed off South Carolina, debris field found, pilot still missing

Debris found during search for missing F-16 pilot

By BRUCE SMITH (AP) – 1 day ago

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Debris and an oil slick were spotted in the Atlantic off the South Carolina coast as the search expanded Friday for an F-16 fighter pilot whose jet collided with another during night training exercises.

"We did have a report of an oil sheen which might be consistent with fuel from the fighter jet itself and we have also had a report of a small amount of debris," said Capt. Michael McAllister, commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston.

The search was expanded from 750 to 1,300 square miles as Coast Guard and Air Force aircraft joined vessels from the Coast Guard, Navy, law enforcement and commercial shippers looking for Capt. Nicholas Giglio. He is based at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter.

"We remain hopeful," said base commander, Col. Joseph Guastella Jr., noting the 77th Fighter Squadron did not fly Friday.

"In the Air Force, we're a family and when we lose one of our airmen, it's losing one of our family members. Naturally those that work with Capt. Giglio every day are pretty shook up about it. It's the right thing to do to stand down, take a day off from our normal routine and reflect on what happened, reflect on the loss."

But he stressed the search was "indeed still a rescue mission."

McAllister, who said he did not know exactly what the debris was, said there would have been a tracking beacon both on the pilot and his ejection seat, but no signal had been picked up.

"We presume there is a pilot who is in the water and needs to be rescued," he said. "The lack of a beacon might indicate that the pilot didn't safely eject or that there was an equipment malfunction. It makes it more difficult for us since we don't have the beacon to home in on."

The planes collided Thursday around 8:30 p.m. about 40 miles off the South Carolina coast, said Senior Master Sgt. Brad Fallin at Shaw Air Force Base. Both jets, based at Shaw, are single-seat aircraft.

The jet piloted by Capt. Lee Bryant landed safely at Charleston Air Force Base, Fallin said. Bryant was examined at the base but suffered no injuries and was released. By Friday afternoon, Bryant was back at Shaw, Guastella said.

Bryant's plane "was indeed damaged significantly, but it was still flyable and he was able to return it to Charleston," he said, declining to specify what was damaged or estimate its cost.

Two other aircraft from the 77th Fighter Squadron were training nearby. When those pilots learned of the collision, they quickly helped Bryant assess damage to his plane and get back to Charleston and also looked for Giglio, Guastella said.

McAllister said visibility was good and winds were about 25 mph at the time of the collision. He said he did not think it was raining at the time.

Water temperatures in the crash area were about 75 degrees and most people could survive 24 hours, he said.

"Given that this was a military member they would probably be in good shape and have a will to live. We would expect it would be quite a bit more than the 24 hours," McAllister said.

Giglio graduated from Lacey Township High School in New Jersey in 1995, said the school district's assistant superintendent, Vanessa P. Clark. His mother, Helen Giglio, is a special education teacher at a district elementary school.

"Obviously, our hopes thoughts and prayers are with the family," Clark said.

Lt. Col. Lance Kildron, commander of the 77th Fighter Squadron, said Giglio flew the same training flight several nights before the Thursday accident.

Guastella said the collision took place toward the end of the 80-minute mission, which is conducted two to five times a week by Shaw-based pilots.

Kildron said Giglio has been a fighter pilot for 18 months but hadn't been at Shaw very long.

"During that short time, he'd distinguished himself as being a fine F-16 fighter pilot, and overall, personality-wise and just attitude, a great guy, and I'm happy to have him as part of my team," he said.

The 77th Fighter Squadron is training for deployment to Iraq early next year, Kildron said.

The pilots' ages were not immediately available, nor was Bryant's home town.

Earlier this week, Shaw Air Force Base announced that pilots would be conducting nighttime exercises to allow pilots to fly with night vision equipment and practice tactics critical to surviving in combat.

Link:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnaGJISnnm3geK5jYYeXsU6eg_tgD9BCDUH83

 

[Daredevil]

http://www.defenceforum.in/forum/na...a-debris-field-found-pilot-still-missing.html

 

[RPK]

BAF training plane crashes at Bogra

BAF training plane crashes at Bogra :: Bangladesh :: bdnews24.com ::

Bogra, Oct 22 (bdnews24.com)—A Bangladesh Air Force training plane meeting with an accident on Thursday left its pilot and co-pilot injured, an official said.

"The BAF training plane tried to land again just after it took off from Erulia airstrip. As it tried to land again, the accident occurred," Bogra fire service station officer Shahadat Hossain told bdnews24.com.

The two injured men were taken to hospital, said Hossain.

Fire service personnel are carrying out rescue operations.

Erulia airstrip handles small aircraft; it also has a helipad.

 

[wild goose]

Military helicopter crashes in Afghanistan - official

Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:22pm IST

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A military helicopter crashed in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, causing some casualties, but it was not yet clear if it was an Afghan or a foreign aircraft, a senior intelligence official said.

The helicopter crashed in the northern part of the Hindu Kush mountains in Baghlan province, said the province's intelligence chief General Majid.

He said the helicopter had not been shot down.

Officials for both NATO-led forces and foreign troops under the U.S. military command said all of their aircraft had been accounted for.

Afghan security officials in Kabul were not immediately available for comment.

Military helicopter crashes in Afghanistan - official | South Asia | Reuters

 

[RPK]

MIG-27 crashes in West Bengal; pilots ejects to safety

Kolkata/New Delhi: A MiG-27 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in a tea garden near New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal on Friday but the pilot managed to eject safely.

"The aircraft was on a routine training sortie from the Hashimara airbase and crashed at around 1310 hours, nearly 15 kilometres from its take off base near near New Jalpaiguri," IAF officials said.


The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Gautam managed to bailout safely before the aircraft crashed, they said.

The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the causes behind the crash, they said.

This was the ninth accident involving an IAF aircraft this year.

 

[IBRIS]

Pak military helicopter crashes in Bajaur, 3 killed

Islamabad, Oct 24 A Pakistani military helicopter crashed today in the restive Bajaur tribal region, killing three persons and injuring several others.

The Mi-17 transport helicopter went down in Nawagai area of the semi-autonomous Bajaur Agency, officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels.

The officials said three persons on board the helicopter were killed.

Local residents said they had seen smoke rising from the site of the crash. The cause of the crash could not immediately be ascertained.

The helicopter crashed hours after a US drone attack in Damadola area of Bajaur Agency killed 25 militants, including six foreign fighters, and injured several others.

The pilotless plane targeted a compound where members of the local Taliban 'shura' or council were holding a meeting. The compound belonged to a close relative of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan deputy chief Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, whose son-in-law and nephew were killed in the strike.
ChennaiOnline News : Pak military helicopter crashes in Bajaur, 3 killed

 

[wild goose]

Army, Navy Investigating Copter Crash

October 24, 2009
The Virginian-Pilot

Military investigators are examining what caused an Army helicopter to crash into a Navy supply ship during a training exercise off the Virginia coast, killing one service member and injuring eight others.


Three people remained hospitalized at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital as of late Friday. Their wounds were not considered life-threatening.

Lt. Cmdr. Phil Rosi, a spokesman for the Navy's Fleet Forces Command, said both Army and Navy personnel were injured in the crash, which occurred around 8 p.m. Thursday.

Two Black Hawk helicopters, apparently from the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, were approaching the supply ship Arctic, steaming about 23 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, before the crash.

The choppers, each operated by a four-man crew, were ferrying Navy commandos from the Fort Story campus of the Joint Expeditionary Base to a training mission aboard the Arctic.

Army, Navy Investigating Copter Crash

 

[RPK]

The Associated Press: US: 4 US troops die in Afghan chopper collision

KABUL — Four American troops were killed and two injured Monday when two helicopters collided in southern Afghanistan.

Hostile fire has been ruled out in the crash, a military statement said. U.S. military spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said he did not have other details yet about the cause of the collision.

Shanks said the injured had been evacuated to hospitals inside Afghanistan.

In an unrelated incident, another helicopter went down Monday during an operation by international forces against insurgents in western Afghanistan in which a dozen militants were killed.

The U.S. said military casualties were reported and a recovery operation is under way. Casualties could refer to either dead or injured.

This has been the deadliest year for international and U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban. Fighting spiked around the presidential vote in August, and 51 U.S. soldiers died that month — the deadliest for American forces in the eight-year war.

So far in October, more than 30 American troops have died.

The deaths come as U.S. officials debate whether to send tens of thousands more troops to the country and the Afghan government scrambles to organize a runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and his top challenger from an August vote that was sullied by massive ballot-rigging.

President Barack Obama's administration is hoping the runoff will produce a legitimate government. Another flawed election would cast doubt on the wisdom of sending more troops to support a weak government tainted by fraud.

Some Obama administration officials had said the U.S. would be receptive to a deal to avoid another disruptive election if Karzai and Abdullah agreed.

On Sunday, Karzai and his rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, both ruled out a power-sharing deal before the Nov. 7 runoff, saying the second round of balloting must be held as planned to bolster democracy in this war-ravaged country