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| Date: | Wednesday 19 June 1996 |
| Time: | 14:48 LT |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet |
| Owner/operator: | Mcdonnell Douglas Aerospace |
| Registration: | N16518 |
| MSN: | 165189 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 21 hours |
| Engine model: | GE F404-GE-402 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bethalto, IL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | (KALN) |
| (KALN) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA) pilot was flying a leased Navy F/A-18C and conducting an airshow practice at St. Louis Regional Airport when the airplane impacted the ground at the bottom of a reverse one-half Cuban eight aerobatic maneuver. The briefed altitude at the top of the maneuver was to be 3,500 feet above ground level (agl), which gave the pilot a base line of 1,000 feet agl. Recorded data showed that the actual altitude at the top of the maneuver was 2,280 feet agl. Using a group of F/A-18 pilots in a F/A-18 simulator, the lowest altitude at the top of the reverse one-half Cuban eight required to successfully complete the maneuver was 2,500 feet agl. The pilot had been trained as a Naval Aviator, and was a graduate of the Navy's test pilot school. He joined MDA Flight Operations 3/4/96. The pilot had accrued 16 hours in the F/A-18 in the last year, of which 11 hours were in the last 90 days. MDA did not have a formal training plan for their pilots who perform airshow demonstration flights. The pilot had flown 5 civilian airshows within the last year; the most recent was 11 days prior to the accident. All the airshows were flown in a Pitts Special.
Probable Cause: the pilot's failure to follow the preflight crew briefing and attain a proper altitude during an aerobatic maneuver. Factors in the accident were: the pilot's previous experience of flying similar airshow routines in a different airplane with substantially different performance characteristics, and the company's failure to have a formal training plan for pilots performing airshow demonstration flights.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CHI96FA211
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 09-Apr-2024 06:13 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
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