Fighter bomber cuts cable

[Jeff0500]

About 8 years ago there was an incident in the news on a fighter bomber flying low in the Pyrennese or Alps. The news reports wrote that the tail severed the cable (wire rope). Can this be true?

 

[mrnolmts]

Yes, I remember the incident. Sad, but true.
Here's a link to the story:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june99/marines_2-3.html

 

[ms6073]

It was an EA-6B Marine Prowler stationed at the U.S. air base in Aviano, Italy - http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9802/03/italy.cablecar.update2/index.html

 

[LearLove]

On a sorta of related note:

Did anyone ever catch the line on the Sopranos episode about this incident?

It was the one where Tony, Pauly and Chris go to Italy. The old Italian guy on the street says to Pauly, in italian, - "Nato, you guys cut our ski lift".

 

[Jeff0500]

Thanks for the links. Read them. If the aircraft hit the ropes as described, with enough force to derope the rope off the towers or cut the rope. It's hard to think the plane can continue flying?

 

[Steve]

The Pilot was found not guilty of the charges. Nav was kicked out of the USMC for destroying evidence.

 

[Foxcow]

I talked to an AME about that incident. Can any military pilots elaborate on the fucntion of "go-pills?"

 

[millhouse21]

The pilot spent time in jail for destruction of evidence. The plane kept flying because Grumman built them like tanks. Those guys didn't know they had hit a cable until after they landed and the corps had turned over to the italian police. They thought they'd had a midair with a helicopter.

 

[Jeff0500]

The pilot spent time in jail for destruction of evidence. The plane kept flying because Grumman built them like tanks. Those guys didn't know they had hit a cable until after they landed and the corps had turned over to the italian police. They thought they'd had a midair with a helicopter.

I was working aerial lifts at a skii hill when the news broke. It attracted conversation in the maintaince shop. The talking about it (for lack of a better phrase) leaned towards a strike on the rope that began a symathetic harmony. Like troops in step on a bridge. Knowing Grumman for its strength in frames my postulation seems right. The ropes had slack at the towers and de-roped. The deropment guards didn't catch the lateral movement of the rope in this instance. I think.

 

[Jeff0500]

The pilot spent time in jail for destruction of evidence. The plane kept flying because Grumman built them like tanks. Those guys didn't know they had hit a cable until after they landed and the corps had turned over to the italian police. They thought they'd had a midair with a helicopter.

I was working aerial lifts at a skii hill when the news broke. It attracted conversation in the maintaince shop. The talking about it (for lack of a better phrase) leaned towards a strike on the rope that began a symathetic harmony. Like troops in step on a bridge. Knowing Grumman for its strength in frames my postulation seems right. The ropes had slack at the towers and de-roped. The deropment guards didn't catch the lateral movement of the rope in this instance. I think.

 

[Fugawe]

I talked to an AME about that incident. Can any military pilots elaborate on the fucntion of "go-pills?"[/quote

]

'Go pills' are simply an approved stimulant for a pilot to take to avoid drowsiness on long-haul flights. Usually used by single-seat guys (or small crews/non-augmented crews) on long deployment flights. You can't break out the thermos and have a cup of coffee, so you swallow a couple 'go pills'.

There are probably other approved applications that I'm not aware of.

Fugawe

 

[Foxcow]

I talked to an AME about that incident. Can any military pilots elaborate on the fucntion of "go-pills?"[/quote

]

'Go pills' are simply an approved stimulant for a pilot to take to avoid drowsiness on long-haul flights. Usually used by single-seat guys (or small crews/non-augmented crews) on long deployment flights. You can't break out the thermos and have a cup of coffee, so you swallow a couple 'go pills'.

There are probably other approved applications that I'm not aware of.

Fugawe

Yeah thats basically what he said. He also said that those guys had been up for approx. 20 hours at the time of the incident because they were using these pills.

 

[JimNtexas]

Yeah thats basically what he said. He also said that those guys had been up for approx. 20 hours at the time of the incident because they were using these pills.

They were on a routine peacetime training mission. Unless the USMC is a lot different than the USAF they would not have been given go pills just to fly a practice low level.

I think you're getting this accident mixed up with some of the friendly fire incidents in Desert Storm where go pills may have been factors.

 

[agpilot34]

They were on a routine peacetime training mission. Unless the USMC is a lot different than the USAF they would not have been given go pills just to fly a practice low level.

I think you're getting this accident mixed up with some of the friendly fire incidents in Desert Storm where go pills may have been factors.

Negative, it's not a mix up. I remember all the hoopla surrounding this incident, and the "go pills" were talked about extensively, it was just never proven that they were a contributing factor in that case.

 

[JimNtexas]

Negative, it's not a mix up. I remember all the hoopla surrounding this incident, and the "go pills" were talked about extensively, it was just never proven that they were a contributing factor in that case.

I am sure there was hoopla about the pills because that's something the press always speculates about anytime there is a military crash. But I don't think the crew actually took go pills before they flew that mission.