ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 56116
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| Date: | 07-JUL-1979 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Fairchild-Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II |
| Owner/operator: | 81st TFWg USAF (81st Tactical Fighter Wingg United States Air Force) |
| Registration: | 77-0253 |
| MSN: | A10-0178 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | RAF Chicksands, Bedfordshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
A-10A, 77-0253/WR, 81st TFW: Written off 7/7/1979: crashed at RAF Chicksands, Bedfordshire.
The pilot was Colonel Tommy Thompson. He was the 81st TFW Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations (ADO). He was also the USAFE A-10 Aerial Demonstration Pilot. The accident occurred at RAF Chicksands during an air demo. Col Thompson was killed in the accident. Later investigation revealed evidence of a sideways ejection.
This accident along with a slew of other accidents and mishaps was most likely the result of Foreign Objects being left in the “White Area” of the A-10 at the factory – a supposedly sealed area in the cockpit where the normal hydraulic operated flight controls met with the manual reversion flight controls.
After another two A-10 air demo accidents at Nellis in 1981 there was an incident at Bentwaters where a pilot from the 510th TFS experienced flight control binding, that locked the aircraft into a dive. Luckly this pilot had enough altitude and strength to break the flight controls free. The airplane was grounded after landing, and a pen was found in the White Area. This led to a grounding of the entire A-10 fleet, where all White Areas were reinspected and several other foreign objects were found that could be traced to the Fairchild factory.
A number of A-10 accident widows sued Fairchild over the deaths of their husbands
Sources:
1. http://www.scramble.nl (Scramble 256)
2. http://warthogaircraftdatabase.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/fy-1977-aircraft.html
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1977.html
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20171019033444/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/A-10_Thunderbolt_II.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-May-2013 21:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Dec-2013 03:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Location, Phase, Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2014 12:19 | davemartin88 | Updated [Narrative] |
| 26-Feb-2015 06:32 | Davemartin88 | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Apr-2018 05:53 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Jun-2020 15:54 | AlLach | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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