Yo. This place is getting dull so I think Ill spice it up. If any of you dont know I am the biggest egotistical jerk you will ever meet and I am a pilot. My dream is to be a fighter pilot some day (and I share the invincible, cant beat me, always right attitude). (that day draws near) As such I love everything about aircraft. Even more so I love the Thunderbirds. The are my favorite Air Demo team. F16s are also my favorite aircraft.
This crash happened at an airshow during september 2003. In the first video you get a good picture of how close this pilot came to death, you can clearly see him punch out and .8 seconds later the aircraft pancakes into the center line.
http://members.cox.net/~ronrapp/thunderbird_crash.mpeg
In this next video from the ground this time you see the exact cause of the crash. A missinterpretation of altitude. The pilot initiated what is called a split S. The aircraft maintained its potential energy and continued into the ground. He needed another 600 ft to not crash. You can also hear the TB's reactions to the crash.
http://members.cox.net/~ronrapp/thu...ground_view.wmv
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_news_article968.html
EDIT: A beautiful picture of an ugly situation.
2005-04-06, 06:52 PM
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