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Surprising Cause of Oshkosh F-16 Runway Overrun
Remember that runway overrun by an F-16C at Oshkosh last summer (see it on video here)? Plenty of armchair pilots speculated about why it might have happened, with possible causes centering on a what many presumed was a brake problem or perhaps too high an airspeed on final. It turns out that not a single one of us was right. An Air Force investigation made public this week revealed that a severely fogged-over canopy, caused by the failure of the F-16’s environmental control system, was to blame… (www.flyingmag.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
The cause of this accident is 100% pilot error. Other factors may enter into the accident but regardless of the Air Force's attempt to move the cause of this accident to other than pilot error, pilot error it is. If the pilot had trouble seeing out of the cockpit he could easily have stayed airborne until the canopy was cleared by the application of heat and time. He could also have diverted to a field with a longer runway. The Air Force has never been comfortable with 8000 foot runways.
Pilot Error..........plain and SIMPLE!
Well, there are several good comments thru here and none of us were there, BUT, somebody said he carried the nose gear a couple of grand, which would indicate he was already down. Now, that, as one says, is either AirForce Training or as another says, Showmanship. At any rate, as wingscrubber says here, he can climb about straight up to 30000 if traffic is a concern, or slam down the nose and stand on the brakes. Real interesting.Not sure of the runway length up there, but if he was already into it a couple of grand, he apparently was too far gone to stop.
The longest runway is 18/36 which is 8,002 x 150. The article indicated that was the runway used.
The ECS system failure, if it actually occurred was still only a factor. Cause was pilot error - should have been hard on the brakes or going around, as aforementioned by some of the other commenters. Duncan Mcloeds comment that it would have been inadvisable to accelerate into the pattern is valid except that an F-16 can climb VERTICALLY out of the pattern straight up to 30,000ft if traffic was really a concern.
I had a Cherokee fog up on take-off and had to go to instruments !
That makes no sense at all. If I had been the pilot and couldn't see where I was going then I would just brake and pull up as soon as possible. I wouldn't be looking for visual clues. Also if it was that bad how did he manage to land on the runway in the first place.
I agree that this is a load of bull****
I agree that this is a load of bull****