Awesome!!!
You’re an idiot.
As is often the case, there is more to this than what seems to be the case at first glace.
Apparently the GA aircraft was below the MOA, but more than that, the GA pilot was flying a practice approach and talking to approach, so however you look at it, the GA pilot wasn’t violating any rules or common sense.
As for muscle memory, it’s still quite possible to think you have moved the intended switch/lever/knob/whatever but inadvertently moved one directly adjacent to what you think you’re doing. I know I’ve certainly done this with the light switches in the PA-28 aircraft. And since the control panel in question is apparently not in direct line of sight, I can see that mistake being made while trying to fly formation at the same time while low and slow.
Even with the aircraft still recoverable, my understanding is that the pilot essentially had only a second or two to figure out what was wrong, so I can certainly understand how the pilot might not have realized what actually happened and just assumed the aircraft wasn’t behaving normally and decided it was time to punch out.
I suspect the real issue is probably a variation on the normalization of deviance at that airwing. Normalization of bending some of the training rules here and there to the point where that’s just standard practice and no one really thinks to question it. It’s hard for an individual to go against institutional momentum, and I would think particularly so in a military environment where you generally avoid breaking the chain of command. Things certainly need to change there, but if one looks at all of the events leading up to this mishap, like many, it appears to be the result of multiple chains of events rather than maliciousness or ignorance.
…as deliciously confirmed by Gerry’s* use of “new” and “thier” in his failed comment. So yes…truly an idiot, blissfully ignorant of how ironic he/she/they voluntarily confirmed that it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. (* ironic aside: gender identity unclear due to androgynous given name and no helpful pronouns provided)
No name calling, David. C’mon. Disagree all you want but be nice.
And what does that have to do with anything, Gerry? Stick to the topic at hand, please.
Best comment I’ve ever seen on AVWEB
Hopefully, they at least used the right pronouns.
Good Lordy… LMAO!!! Home run!!!
The article and many comments point out that the GA pilot was clear (or not) of the MOA. Matters not! MOAs are shared airspace. To be clear, flying through a MOA (hot or not) is not a violation, while military aircraft engaging GA (or attempting to) in a MOA is a severely punishable act.
Used to fly “Bad Guy” flights in a C182 in some W airspaces. It was pretty funny watching those F-15s trying to keep “down” with a 182 at low cruise.
Luke AFB would constantly harass the trainees off of KDVT. clearly many at the AFB knew as it was a ‘thing’ new entrants would do on occasion. Luckily nothing major happened while I was training at DVT but a few ab initio pilots were pretty rattled at times. Kinda juvenile if you ask me
Here is the full report. Interesting read and lots of retraining. Ground him, perhaps for a short time, retraining YES, but pulling his wings…I won’t cast the first stone, I pulled a bone head stunt during my younger years…no crash but for the grace of our good lord.
When goofing around destroys a 27 million dollar asset and even though no one was seriously harmed, I think that pilot has used up all his chits. Time to find a new job.
Morally unacceptable.
If only the pilots had been aviators.
Lawyers and the legal profession wonder why their reputation is poor? This is not the way to win over a jury. Inhumane and reprehensible.
Damn! That’s cold even for a mega company like Boeing.
The headline leaves me speechless. Boeing now knows the feelings of the passengers/crew that died? They are digging a deeper hole.
Did not feel pain - that’s what some people say about fish.
If “pain and suffering” is not allowed in the “compensation calculation”, the filing by Boeing’s lawyers should be introduced as evidence so the jury knows why.