F-35 Crashes on Vertical Landing - Pilot Ejects

[MechAg94]

Pilot ejects from F-35B near White Settlement, Texas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9GBHNaYzcs

The F-35 was at a stop hovering, came down and touched the ground, seemed to lose control as it was on the ground.  Pilot ejects.  Seemed like the engine wouldn't spool down and controls got wonky.  Windows flight app locked up? 

[WLJ]

Windows flight app locked up?

Started an update

[Ben]

Well, that zero-zero ejection seat worked, but man, that's gotta hurt.

[French G.]

It is my understanding that the power is automatically cut when the wheels hit the ground. Or supposed to. Feel like the guy left just when things were getting better. Taking over for the AV-8B for highest fixed wing mishap rate. When I was almost out of active duty the Harrier was working through problems with uncommanded throttle rollback in a hover. Not fun.

[dogmush]

The speculation I saw on the .mil flight groups is he touched down, the lift fan (front of aircraft) cut power like it was supposed to but the main engine didn't spool down so the vectored down thrust from the nozzle pushed the tail up and around.

I guess the left fan is shaft driven off the engine, with a clutch, so they are saying the clutch disengaged the fan, but the engine remained spun up.

[French G.]

Correct, the lift fan is just about like a compressor section of a jet engine mounted vertically and run by shaft.

Worst Harrier thing I ever saw was a quiet reserve Sunday at oceana was interrupted by an emergency landing of said airplane. It had apparently bounced off the ship due to deck movement or who knows, taken a rather non flying attitude off the side and below deck level while hitting a wingtip. Apparently it was a clear cut case to eject but the pilot saved it. He landed at oceana with 400lbs of fuel remaining. Which is not a lot. I talked to the pilot briefly, he seemed pretty much unbothered by it.

Most nervous I have ever been as an inspector was certifying a harrier main landing gear strut we rebuilt. Those things took a beating. Vertical landing seemed to consist of establishing a hover at ten or so feet and chopping the throttle to idle. Pretty violent.

[230RN]

Well, that zero-zero ejection seat worked, but man, that's gotta hurt.

Yeah, jeeze, only two swings before grounding.  I'm sure he couldn't know it was perhaps all settling down.  Amazing that the seat kept going that way. That must be some jolt when they punch out.

[HeroHog]

Why did he punch out? It was pretty much done when he hit the silk.

[230RN]

Why did he punch out? It was pretty much done when he hit the silk.

HeroHog
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It can ALWAYS get worse!

That's why.  ROFL

Terry, 230RN

[kgbsquirrel]

Why did he punch out? It was pretty much done when he hit the silk.

Fire alarms would be a good motivator to egress the vehicle in a hurry, especially if they keep going after activating the suppression system.  Nearly pure speculation, but there was an instance where a control tower told a pilot that he was "on fire" while on the taxi way and the pilot immediately took the fast exit, so that makes me think that that particular motivation is very plausible.

[HeroHog]

All possible. I wasn't there and am NOT a pilot of ANY description, just a curious ground dweller.

[230RN]

kgbsquirrel, you mentioned the fire suppression system.  That was the big white cloud, right?  I thought maybe it was a big spray of fuel, but surely not just dust from the runway.

I'm glad he ejuected when the plane finally sort of leveled out.  If he had done it while it was all kattywompus, it wouldn't have given him the height needed for the 'chute.  I mentioned before that it was a two-swing landing and it looked like he was still going sideways when he hit.

[HeroHog]

Looked to me like he was dropping pretty fast. Is that the normal descent speed?

[Ben]

Looked to me like he was dropping pretty fast. Is that the normal descent speed?

I'm no expert, but ideally I think he could have used another couple hundred feet for the chute to fill and stabilize.

[HeroHog]

I meant the jet, upon "landing".

[Ben]

I meant the jet, upon "landing".

Oh, gotchya.

[Fly320s]

Why did he punch out? It was pretty much done when he hit the silk.

That may have been an auomatic ejection, not a commanded ejection.  That particular seat has that particular function when installed in that particular aircraft type.

Or, like KGB said, there was most likely many alarms going off in that cockpit.  Those alarms might have expedited his exit.

As for the white smoke, I think that was the engine ingesting a bunch of FOD, such as the nose gear. 

[230RN]

FOD?

Back to the chute.  Reviewed it again and it looked like the chute was somehow sprung out and opened, rather than just by the usual drop airfow.  It had a strangely-shaped top to it... springs?

[MechAg94]

FOD?

Back to the chute.  Reviewed it again and it looked like the chute was somehow sprung out and opened, rather than just by the usual drop airfow.  It had a strangely-shaped top to it... springs?

FOD - Foreign Object Debris.  I think at least. 



Don't those ejection seats orient upward after the leave the jet? 

[WLJ]

FOD?

Foreign Object Debris

[Ben]

FOD?

Back to the chute.  Reviewed it again and it looked like the chute was somehow sprung out and opened, rather than just by the usual drop airfow.  It had a strangely-shaped top to it... springs?

That was the drogue doing that, I think.

[230RN]

It all happened so fast (0:24) and I think part it was off the screen.  Now a drogue is a small chute that pulls out the main chute, right?  I didn't see such, just  that main chute with the funny top.

If you and I mean the same thing by drogue chute, I don't think I'd want any extra time taken by having one chute pull out another.
 
 I'd want the main chute out and open in a matter of 200-300 milliseconds, which is about what it looked like.

[Ben]

You can clearly see the drogue deploy at 0:26. My understanding is that at lower altitude, the drogue stabilization is bypassed, but it still needs to eject to pull the main chute and detach.

[MechAg94]

You can clearly see the drogue deploy at 0:26. My understanding is that at lower altitude, the drogue stabilization is bypassed, but it still needs to eject to pull the main chute and detach.

The "drogue" looks like a separate rocket or something that pulls the main chute out to full length.  I was thinking a drogue was normally just a small parachute.  Does the same job I guess.

[French G.]

The parachutes have a ballistic spreader. Large segmented grenade basically with a shroud line attached to exact metal chunk. A CAD(cartridge actuated device) in this case about like a 12ga shell fires it. The chunks depart in a circular pattern taking the shroud lines with them. Anytime I have happened into a chute shop and they are working on them I turn around and depart as quickly as I came.