Zombie F-35 Mishap Report Out...

[tobnpr]

I think we all wondered why a pilot would eject from a nine-figure fighter that was quite capable of flying.

Final Conclusions On Bizarre Crash Of 'Zombie' F-35B That Flew Without A Pilot For 64 Miles Released

The Marines say the pilot was responsible for the mishap that resulted in the total loss of an F-35B in South Carolina.

www.twz.com

Report sez he shouldn't have punched out, pilot error...destroyed a $135,000,000 fighter (I still can't wrap my head around that many zeroes) which fortunately didn't take out an apartment building killing untold numbers of civilians, and no punitive action recommended? Sounds like someone, knows someone...

 

[topgun260]

Looks like he lost his command of Marine Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 over the incident.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/ne...d-after-ejecting-from-f-35b-that-kept-flying/

 

[FlightmechH3]

Gering had it out for him. I would guess he was a failed pilot who flew rubber dod doo out of HK.

It appears the pilot followed procedures, hit the outta here handle when things started going sideways.

This is of the few times I don't blame the pilot for any supposed mistakes. So the USMC puts a monetary cost on a human life vs a machine that will be scrapped in a few years?

 

[hindsight2020]

So the USMC puts a monetary cost on a human life vs a machine that will be scrapped in a few years?

Of course they do. We are cheap. My wife gets a measly half a mil if I mort, and my contraption is 60yo, equipped with the latest Auto-nothingTM and more fly2fail parts than you can shake a stick at. Any cheaper and I might as well be flying for the PLAAF.

Altruism_is _for_suckers didn't quite have the same ring to it, so I stuck with hindsight.

 

[3393RP]

This is of the few times I don't blame the pilot for any supposed mistakes. So the USMC puts a monetary cost on a human life vs a machine that will be scrapped in a few years?

Reading the linked articles and the mishap report, I didn't think that conclusion was implied. Mishap investigations always detail the monetary costs of the accident, and the linked article makes the briefest commentary on the jet's value.

I do believe the pilot made a decision that should be criticized, one reason being perhaps he abandoned the aircraft without proper consideration of possibility of it crashing in an urban area. Savannah, Columbia, and Myrtle Beach are all within the radius of the distance between the ejection and eventual impact site.

I'm also surprised that a Colonel would provide a written statement to a military news publication about his firing. This seems wholly improper.

I loathe to demean the skills of a military pilot in the most complex aircraft in the inventory, but expecting an F-35B pilot to be proficient in an IFR missed approach, even with some systems failures, doesn't sound unreasonable.

The mishap report states:

"The investigation concluded the pilot’s decision to eject was ultimately inappropriate because commanded-flight inputs were in progress at the time of ejection, standby flight instrumentation was providing accurate data, and the aircraft’s backup radio was, at least partially, functional."

It also notes that:

"The investigation concludes the mishap aircraft’s extended unmanned flight was due to stability provided by the F-35’s advanced automatic flight-control systems."

Since that was functional, one might think the pilot should have been able to maintain control of the aircraft. His decision to eject seems to conflict with the statement:

"The pilot was qualified and current to conduct the scheduled flight. The flight was scheduled, planned, briefed, and conducted properly, professionally, and in accordance with applicable orders and
directives."

As always, the comfortable position at my desk as I write renders my opinions essentially worthless and uninformed.