Posted on 02/24/2007 1:09:53 PM PST by buccaneer81
Pilot broke rules when he buzzed Downtown Saturday, February 24, 2007 Matt Tullis THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The F-16 flight carrying then-Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson over Downtown in August rattled workers for only a few seconds. The investigation into whether the jet flew too low or too fast took 174 days.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s conclusion: The F-16 Fighting Falcon was flying at almost twice the speed limit and too low.
The report the agency turned over to the Air National Guard on Feb. 7 says the pilot flew at speeds of up to 550 mph at altitudes between 2,100 and 3,000 feet.
FAA regulations say the top permissible speed over Downtown is 288 mph. The jet pilot, it added, did not have authorization from air-traffic controllers at Port Columbus to fly below 10,000 feet.
The flight also "was contrary" to a regulation that no one may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner, according to a synopsis of the report.
Regulations for congested areas such as Downtown say a pilot must obtain authorization to fly as low as 1,000 feet above the tallest structure. The city’s tallest structure is the 629-foot-high Rhodes Tower.
The agency has no jurisdiction to discipline a military pilot, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. Instead, it turned its report over to the military.
Col. Mike Roberts, vice commander of the Guard’s 178 th Fighter Wing based in Springfield, where the flight started, said he had not seen the report. He said the pilot was disciplined based on the fighter wing’s own investigation.
"We found that the pilot did inadvertently go faster than FAA regulations allow," Roberts said. He would not describe the discipline, saying it was an internal matter.
The F-16 fighter jet roared north over Downtown on Aug. 17 at about 3,000 feet and between 422 and 550 mph, according to the FAA report. It flew over the Ohio State University campus between 2,100 and 2,300 feet and as fast as 497 mph before heading back Downtown for a final pass.
As the jet left Downtown, it was traveling at nearly 472 mph.
The Air National Guard said that day that the flight was "by the book" to show Johnson what the plane could do. One day later, though, the FAA announced it was investigating because it had received "a couple" of complaints."
Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city.
Mike Overly, spokesman for the Aviation Safety Institute, a nonprofit center based in Worthington, said he was not surprised the FAA took so long to reach a conclusion.
"I don’t think this is really high on their priority list," he said, "because this is the military and a politician, a bad combination; and nothing happened except some people got scared."
mtullis@dispatch.com
Military aviation ping.
This thread is no good without film :^)
The Wing Commander probably had the pilot buy a round of drinks at the "O" Club for punishment.
"Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city."
Some people panic and call 911 when a little boy draws a picture of an army tank with crayons. These people are nuts.
In Kansas City last year we had the Blue Angels do a downtown show. They based out of the old downtown airport and did a show above and around it. All the downtown buildings and all of the North of the River buildings had a "look out you window --wow" view. It was stupendous.
I live in the country and you can hear thunder at night and then the two orange glows of the exhausts as the B-1 bombers do their terrain following exercises.
They seem no more than 500 feet off the deck.
I could no more conceive of complaining than I could voting Democrat/socialist.
I love it when it happens and I see it. I think it is so great and the people doing it the best thing about our country.
Come, now - who amongst us hasn't done this?
(Or at least really wanted to. LOL.)
No doubt many flashbacks took place there as the "international" students took cover ;-)
We have lots of military aircraft flying over our house and even Fat Albert flies over making touch and goes at Kelly. I love to see them and hear them. We even have a Helicopter that flies back and forth pretty regularly. Haven't figured out yet where it is going or comiong from.
Would loved to have seen it.
A friend of my dad's got court marshaled for buzzing Auburn Univerity in a P-38 during WWII. What could be done with such a person other than send him to the front but by definition a fighter pilot expects to be at the front. So, he was sent to the front in the Pacific.
Damn democrats.
I get nervous when these fighter jets are treated like toys.
Wasn't it just a few years ago that some hotdog killed a bunch of people in Italy riding a ski tram up the mountain when he "buzzed" the car and ended up snapping the cable?
Rules for thee, but not for me....
I guess some rules and regulations should be ignored if you are on the "correct" side....
"Mustang, this is Ghostrider, requesting flyby."
"Some people found the flyover unnerving; many called 911, and one woman was described as panicked by the sound and sight of a fighter jet over the city."
"many called 911"
The only reason to have called 911 would have been to ask for an encore.
A woman panicked and some people got scared? Geeze, I see a lawsuit forming.
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