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Plane Crash/Explosion at RDU International (Raleigh/Durham,NC)
friend

Posted on 03/26/2004 12:19:41 PM PST by jern

Heads up, there has been some kind of explosion at RDU airport in Raleigh, just got a call from someone who works near the airport. Will post more in a second.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: f18; northcarolina; oldnorthstate; planecrash; raleigh; rdu; richmond
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To: Hatteras; SirAllen
So who "radioed for an emergency landing at the nearest airport" since this F-18 never left the ground before crashing and certainly knew where he was?
81 posted on 03/26/2004 2:35:03 PM PST by Dr. Eckleburg (There are very few shades of gray.)
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
The pics from the helicopter showed it came to a rest less than a hundred yards from a jet fuel terminal.
82 posted on 03/26/2004 2:37:37 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
I would think that would have been an erroneous report.
83 posted on 03/26/2004 2:38:32 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity; TomGuy; TBall; Calpernia; Sacajaweau; philetus; OXENinFLA; Mudboy Slim; ...
From your post, Frank Belote, an eyewitness to the crash, said "the front of the (second) plane blew up and the pilot immediately ejected."

Remember those words. We won't see them again.

84 posted on 03/26/2004 2:44:38 PM PST by Dr. Eckleburg (There are very few shades of gray.)
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
Dunno. You how the first reports always turn out, it's what was reported on PTF.
85 posted on 03/26/2004 3:27:56 PM PST by SirAllen
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To: SirAllen
First reports are notoriously correct. More so, at least, than the filtering that follows them.
86 posted on 03/26/2004 3:29:41 PM PST by Dr. Eckleburg (There are very few shades of gray.)
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To: Taipei Personality; Rogle
According to Joe Baugher's Military Aircraft website: The F/A-18F (2-seat version of the -E Super Hornet) is designed to fill the role of the -D model.
87 posted on 03/26/2004 3:51:17 PM PST by steveegg (It takes more than just a bit of double-secret probation to keep a good website down)
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
"First reports are notoriously correct. More so, at least, than the filtering that follows them."

Not to pick a fight but the first report of the 9/11 WTC tragedy on FOX had a small commuter plane hitting the first tower.

I was merely mentioning what an eyewitness to the actual attempted takeoff of this F-18 reported seeing. A witness who also happened to be very knowledgeable about aircraft as he was a airplane mechanic and was working at a hangar alongside the runway.

Another witness who was also at a private jet terminal recounted similar details and just a short time ago, a young boy of about 8 or 9 was interviewed at the airport and, although he described the crash very much like a child would be expected to, recounted the same details.

The point being that when two F-18s show up at a commercial airport, everyone notices. And when two F-18s taxi out to the runway, every aviation buff in the airport is going to stop and watch the takeoff. As a matter of fact, I'm sure somewhere, somebody is arranging to sell their home video to one of the local affiliates as we speak.

88 posted on 03/26/2004 4:29:45 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: jern
Most likely he lost an engine with a catasrophic uncontained failure on the takeoff roll just before rotation which caused excessive yaw with not enough airspeed for the control surfaces to be effective. No other reason for such an early fire undetected. He would have tested the engine fire lights before taxing and if he had time to abort the takeoff he would have depressed the fire lights which shut down the fuel flow to the engines. The fact that he could not maintain stability on the ground and chose to emergency eject could have meant he was aware of the fire and engine failure or that he lost one of the main gear in the process and had no control for stopping or stearing and chose to eject.

The low altitude ejection sequence would have pulled his legs in from the seat restraints and wouild have fired the canopy first. The catapult would have than fired and propelled the seat up the guide rail. He probaly pulled both engine throttles back to the off position lifting on the finger lifts before pulling the seat ejection control handle. If the canopy failed to blow first a head nocker on the seat would have broken through the canopy on ejction. At low altitude the drogue gun fires to pull the drogue shoot out and decelerate the seat and more quickly deploy the main shoot and pull the pilot from the seat without him having to pull the seat release lever.

As the jet still had the wings and vertical stabilizers in place I doubt the plane cartwheeled and propbably stayed level. It appears that the nose gear remained up while one or both of the main gear have failed or are no longer part of the airframe. Another posibility is the main gear collapsed or retracted early once the jet was close to wait off wheels and the gear handle was in the up position or one of the main gear failed and caused a skid but this would not have caused such an early fire as reported. The one witness saying the front of the aircraft exploded was describing the ejection sequence itself most likely.

Sempre Fi

89 posted on 03/26/2004 4:41:39 PM PST by Mat_Helm
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
From your post, Frank Belote, an eyewitness to the crash, said "the front of the (second) plane blew up and the pilot immediately ejected."

Remember those words. We won't see them again.

Because the witness is just describing the explosive bolts blowing the canopy after the pilot pulled the ejection handle. Not everything is a conspiracy.

90 posted on 03/26/2004 4:47:48 PM PST by MediaMole
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To: Taxman
So am I. Thought you might be interested as someone said it was a Navy plane.
91 posted on 03/26/2004 8:24:49 PM PST by dixie sass (To all that have served and are serving - Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.)
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To: MediaMole
Not everything is a conspiracy.

I sometimes wonder if Dr. E isn't the new screen name for the banned Michael Rivero. Everything is a conspiracy with those guys.

Food for thought - a cheap and risk free tactic for terrorists would be to assign a member to monitor each and every accident thread on discussion sites such as this and post inflammatory speculation. Doing so would be a lot easier than risking human assets to actually cause mayhem, and would be a cheap way to sow suspicion and distrust in the wake of the kind of accidents that have been happening ever since the human race began using machinery to move faster than a walk.

92 posted on 03/26/2004 8:35:07 PM PST by Denver Ditdat
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To: dixie sass
The F-18 has a rather narrow track -- the distance between the main landing gear is not great, and there have been more than several instances of crosswind gusts upsetting (flipping it over) the F-18. MOF, one of the original F-18 test pilots was killed in just such an accident at NAS Miramar many years ago.

Glad the pilot got out of this one.
93 posted on 03/26/2004 9:18:29 PM PST by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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To: Denver Ditdat
It's good form to ping the freeper you're maligning, Ditwit.

So I'm either Michael Rivero or I'm a terrorist, huh?

Sorry I scared you.

94 posted on 03/26/2004 11:07:19 PM PST by Dr. Eckleburg (There are very few shades of gray.)
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
It's good form to ping the freeper you're maligning, Ditwit.

My apologies.

So I'm either Michael Rivero or I'm a terrorist, huh?

That's a rather limited slate of choices, isn't it? Then again, so is slapping the terrorism label on every mishap.

Sorry I scared you.

What gave you the idea that I was scared? It looks to me as if those who bleat "TERRORISM!" and imagine a nefarious network of coverup squads hard at work behind every crash, explosion, and fire in the US since 9/11 are a better fit for that description.

95 posted on 03/27/2004 1:08:09 AM PST by Denver Ditdat
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To: Denver Ditdat
Apology accepted.

That's a rather limited slate of choices, isn't it?

I agree. But it was your slate; that's why I questioned it.

What gave you the idea that I was scared?

Your eyebrows.

96 posted on 03/27/2004 1:30:10 AM PST by Dr. Eckleburg (There are very few shades of gray.)
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To: Dr. Eckleburg
Gaurantee the "explosion" the fellow on the ground saw was the explosive bolts on the canopy letting go during the ejection sequence. Here's what one looks like from head on:


97 posted on 03/27/2004 9:12:37 AM PST by Tennessee_Bob (LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?)
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To: jern; Hatteras; Dr. Eckleburg; TomGuy; TBall; Calpernia; Sacajaweau; philetus; OXENinFLA; ...
From Navy Newsstand:

Hornet Pilot Unhurt Following Crash

Story Number: NNS040326-16
Release Date: 3/26/2004 10:40:00 PM

From Commander, U.S. Naval Air Force, Atlantic Fleet

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The pilot of a Navy F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, which crashed the afternoon of March 26 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, is uninjured. He has been identified as Lt. j.g. Wesley Baumgartner of Yorktown, Va.

Baumgartner was the pilot of the aircraft, assigned to the “Valions” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 15 based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia. He was part of a two-aircraft flight on a routine cross-country training mission when they made a stop at Raleigh-Durham to refuel. Raleigh-Durham International Airport is a joint-use facility that also serves as a base for local Air National Guard units. The other aircraft landed safely.

Baumgartner was taken to Wake Medical Center for examination.

The accident is under investigation.

For more news from around the fleet, visit the Navy NewsStand at www.news.navy.mil.
U.S. Navy File Photo.

040225-N-9907G-001 Atlantic Ocean (Feb. 25, 2004) – An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the “Valions” of Strike Fighter Squadron One Five (VFA-15) makes its final approach before landing aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The nuclear powered aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman is undergoing carrier qualifications and flight deck certification off the Atlantic coast. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd class Floyd Grimm. (RELEASED)

98 posted on 03/27/2004 9:13:08 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (All the good taglines are taken.)
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Comment #99 Removed by Moderator

To: Tennessee_Bob; Dr. Eckleburg
Hells bells:

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_photos_album71-photoabh.html
100 posted on 03/27/2004 9:16:03 AM PST by Tennessee_Bob (LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?)
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