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| Date: | Monday 7 November 2022 |
| Time: | 12:52 |
| Type: |  Boeing KC-46A Pegasus |
| Owner/operator: | USAF, 305th AMW |
| Registration: | 15-46070 |
| MSN: | 41890/1250 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2022 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Location: | ~116 km SSW of Pensacola -
 Atlantic Ocean
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Jacksonville-Cecil Airport, FL (VQQ/KVQQ) |
| Jacksonville-Cecil Airport, FL (VQQ/KVQQ) | |
| Investigating agency: | USAF AIB |
On 7 November 2022 at 1852:57 Zulu, a KC-46A Pegasus and a F-22A Raptor conducting routine air refueling operations experienced a nozzle binding event during a breakaway which resulted in damage to the Air Refueling Boom (ARB) Nozzle of the KC-46A. Total monetary value of government loss was approximately $100k
USAF AIB Board President Opinion:
I find, by a preponderance of the evidence, one cause for this mishap. Mishap Boom Operator 1 (MBO1) made manual control inputs to the ARB which caused a radial force to be applied to the ARB nozzle, causing it to become bound inside the receiver’s air refueling receptacle. As a result, the bound forces exceeded the structural limitations of the ARB nozzle, damaging the nozzle beyond repair.
Additionally, I find, by a preponderance of evidence, two factors which substantially contributed to the mishap. The first factor is the failure of Mishap Pilot 3 (MP3) to account for the KC-46A Stiff Boom characteristics, causing a rapid forward movement of MA2 relative to MA1, substantially contributing to the mishap.
The second factor is that MBO1 was unable to verify that the ARB nozzle was clear of MA2’s air refueling receptacle prior to making ARB control inputs, substantially contributing to the mishap.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.afjag.af.mil/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jVdI2F8xy5g=&portalid=77
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Aug-2025 18:13 | FvH | Added |
| 27-Aug-2025 18:21 | ASN | Updated |
| 27-Aug-2025 18:21 | ASN | Updated |
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