Bad mishap aboard the JOHN C. STENNIS in the waters here off SoCal:
Ten sailors were injured Wednesday when an F/A-18C Hornet suffered a catastrophic engine failure and caught fire as a pilot was preparing to take off from the carrier John C. Stennis about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, the Navy said.
None of the injuries is life-threatening, said Lt. Aaron V. Kakiel, spokesman for Naval Air Forces at Naval Air Station North Island. The pilot, who is with a squadron from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, was alone in the jet. He was unhurt…
The injured sailors were working on the flight deck when the incident occurred about 2:50 p.m. Pilots were training for takeoffs and landings at the time. The sailors who were injured were involved in the launch and recovery of the jets involved in the training, he said.
The jet was lined up getting ready to take off and was on the catapult when the engine malfunction and fire occurred, Kakiel said. The fire was quickly extinguished.
There was no major damage to the carrier, but there was significant damage to the plane, he said.
Back in the day we had a rash of stage 3 turbine blades that would crack, fly off, get trapped against the casing until they were a molten slug and then fling themselves through the firewall. If you were lucky the slug went outboard and you had to deal with nothing more than a nasty compressor stall. If fate was not on your side that day, the slug might transit inboard, cutting hydraulic and electrical cables on its way to fouling the other engine. The latter instance almost always led to a Martin-Baker penetration, at least until NAVAIR fortified the engine casings with a thermal wrap.
I’ve never heard of casing failure in an FA-18 powerful enough to injure bystanders, or even heard of a casing failure since the late ’80s. It’s a lucky thing for the Marine aviator that this failure mode did not manifest itself a few moments later as the catapult fired – he’d have been in a pickle. For the ground crew, not so much.
It’s a dangerous place, the flight deck.
Update: According to the LA Times, the FA-18C asploded on the flight deck. With damage in excess of $1 million.
Which, I just don’t know.
“…he’d have been in a pickle.”
As in, soaking his cucumber in the briny.
Sorry, just the way my brain works of a Thursday.
Glad to hear no one was hurt badly. Bet that made for exciting video.
I hope you are right about the not badly. Article doesn’t make it all that clear.
Not a good day for anyone involved. Hope that all those injured in any way have a complete and speedy recovery. I note that this is a VMFAT-101 bird; once again, as before with the divert that led to the La Jolla mishap, I’m sure there are a whole lot of unfamiliar faces, with very serious looks on them, going up and down the passageways at the RAG hangar at Miramar. The legacy Hornets are getting very long in the tooth, and the RAG birds, I’m sure, are showing the effects of their fate to be oft in the hands of many a nugget over the years. I hope that this is a case of an unforeseeable and unpredictable material failure. That can be fixed. Maintenance/preventable human error will see even sterner consequences.
Speedy recovery to all concerned.
Damn bird farms are 10000 accident scenarios wrapped in haze gray paint.
Whatever their flight deck pay is, it ain’t enough. Of course next month they may not get any pay for quite a while. Congresscritter tantrum.
Most dangerous workplace known to man…..yep…..that was how my oldest Son described it….he was stationed on the CVN-74 for almost 4 years from 2001-2005….prayers for those injured.
Wonder who’s command pin this will cause to pop off?
mebbe time for the kevlar boxers and flak jackets on the flight deck crew? Just add another load to their misery burdened shoulders. But then we pay them sooo well.
I’d be more worried about going into the water than a projectile. I’m guessing flak jackets inhibit float coat performance.
Actually there is a dual purpose model…with a built in shoulder holster.
I wonder if that slug didn’t hit a drop tank? We had an A-6 on the Forrestal throw a blade through a drop tank, causing the fuel in the tank to spill on the cat track. Foom! Instant BarB-Q.
A dangerous place for certain, made only slightly less so by the well-honed skills of the sailors themselves and their DC teams.
God Bless them all, and best wishes for full and speedy recoveries.
Interesting update. I’ll bet an editor looked at the story, which says the aircraft “exploded into flames” and wrote the headline, which just says exploded. Maybe it’s a good thing the writer didn’t say it “burst into flames.”
God bless the men and women working the flight decks. It is one very dangerous job. I think of them often.
“Not a good day for anyone involved” and “Wonder who’s command pin this will cause to pop off?” – disagree x2. Sometimes, the hatch just blows, and in this case it looks like it was indeed a good day. Depends on how you look at things, I suppose. In any case, CAPT Ron Reis’ seems pretty pleased with his crew:
From: Reis, Ronald CAPT (CO)
Subject: VMFAT 101 A/C MISHAP aboard JCS
I want to take a moment and provide you some additional feedback concerning a catastrophic F/A-18C engine failure/fire onboard JCS today:
We were completing our third hour of FRS CQ operations for the day. At 1450, VMFAT-101 aircraft 201 (F/A-18C) suffered a catastrophic engine failure while on CAT 1, resulting in billowing smoke and intense flames. JCS flight deck crew, including Crash and Salvage, responded within seconds obverting a possible major mishap. Flames were fed by JP-5 from the damaged wings and fuselage fuel tanks. The fire was rapidly extinguished. The pilot, 1st LT Sidlovski, was uninjured and followed NATOPS procedures. Engine parts were ejected through the skin of the aircraft. The debris and fire injured 7 Sailors, 1 Marine and 2 Civilians, ten in total. Stretcher bearers and medical/safety personnel responded within 2 minutes and treated the injured. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening; however the SMO recommended that 4 personnel be medivac’d to Balboa Naval Hospital. OPREPs complete. Medivacs complete and safe on deck (JCS).
I intend to resume FRS CQ following inspections and testing of catapult one.
Timeline of events from my deck log:
1450 – A/C 201 in tension. Fire observed by bridge crew. Position N31:52.6, W118:17.1
1451 – Crash and Salvage truck on scene applying AFFF.
1452 – Medical/Safety crew on scene.
1454 – Fire contained. Flying squad deployed.
1640 – Medivacs arrived Balboa Naval Hospital
I truly could not be more proud of how the crew responded. Crash and Salvage were calm, professional and deliberate. Their quick response saved the life of the CAT One 1st LT who was in the cockpit of the F/A-18C. The flight deck crew attacked the fire without hesitation. The Medical Department was on the scene within minutes treating the most serious injuries. Taxi directors moved nearby aircraft out of harms way. Ship’s Repair Lockers responded inside the skin of the ship. All in all if the crew had been slower in any way, I am certain that things would have gotten much worse.
Barring any unforeseen problems with the catapults, I intend on safely resuming FRS CQ tomorrow.
Commanding Officer
USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74)
raz, by “not a good day for anyone involved” I was referring to all those who were burned or otherwise injured. I aplogize for any lack of clarity on that matter.
Training. Pays. Off.
LA Slimes. “Busted a gut on run-up” don’t sell papers!