Sea Vixen landing incident at Hurn

[timuss]

Its been reported that the Sea Vixen has had a problem landing and is resting on its external tanks on the runway at Hurn.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/new...ce=twitterfeed

Possible nose wheel collapse just came across this:

http://twitpic.com/95yfxv

Very sad news = (

[pagen01]

Sorry to hear this, hopefuly it is a repairable outcome for the show season, and most importantly that the crew are unhurt.

[markstringer]

Hopefully a low speed taxi incident???

Not quite resting on its side though? Journalists.....

[pagen01]

Pic here, http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/472251/3242588.aspx
Though as in the first link it is accompanied by some truly weird comments!

[Peter]

As in most incidents I do not wish to comment on causes until official details are released but hopefully she can be repaired and resume flying this year!

[wwrsimon]

Pic here, http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/472251/3242588.aspx
Though as in the first link it is accompanied by some truly weird comments!

Weird indeed:

"If they keep crashing, it's probably better that they're all gone."

What a truly bizarre comment...

[Pantrash]

Really really sad to hear of this. I know Paul her engineer and have some happy memories of doing a few see-offs for her. Even though she set me on fire once (long story) I love her to bits. Best wishes to her team and hope that she and her crew are OK.

[Wyvernfan]

Glad the crew appear to be ok.. but please please please let it be repairable..!

[Hurn]

Very sad news, but thank goodness the pilot is safe.

Really hope it can be repaired. All the best to DS Aviation.

[trumper]

If the news report is correct it sounds like it was a possible known outcome as the control tower was asked to inspect the u/c (if of course the newspaper report is correct).
Hope for a full return to health and well done the pilot.

[darnsarf]

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=144835

[Howard500]

I can't beleive Sea Vixen has crashed it lookes like the most of the damage was on the drops tanks but I don't what that would mean for the airframe ? Hopefully it's will be back where she belongs soon!

[hunterxf382]

Only caught up with this on my return home tonight - really sad to hear about this 'incident' (it's not a crash - the aircraft had a landing gear technical prob that's all). Glad the pilot was able to apparently walk away from what is hopefully just a set-back in the plans to get the aircraft displaying once more. It's always going to sound worse when you hear of an incident regarding the sole-remaining airworthy of type - in service life I'm sure these sort of things were far more common-place when dealing with a big fleet. That's just my ex-RAF tech matter-of-fact perspective... I'm quite a fan of this aircraft and want to see it displayed as much as anyone!

[Bager1968]

Hopefully a low speed taxi incident???

Not quite resting on its side though? Journalists.....

In the first post in this thread:

A PILOT walked away uninjured after the front undercarriage of his historic jet fighter collapsed on landing at Bournemouth Airport.

The Sea Vixen, the only flying example in the world, and a star of the Bournemouth Air Festival, came down around 4pm on Thursday.

An instructor from Bournemouth Flying Club (BFC) said the plane did a 50ft high pass shortly before landing so the control tower could inspect the undercarriage.

Firefighters sprayed the plane with foam and it was removed around 5.40pm.

Bournemouth Airport said the pilot was unhurt and that the next passenger flight, the 11.35pm Ryanair from Fuerteventura, would not be affected,

Dorset Police said the undercarriage collapsed on landing and that the Air Accident Investigations Branch was investigating.

How do you get a taxi accident from this?

[JagRigger]

Doesn't look too bad in the first pic - radome and probably the bulkhead will be damaged, but IMHO perfectly repairable. Fingers crossed !

[Sgt.Austin]

When I came home from work last night sgt.austin junior told me he was sure he saw the Sea Vixen circling Yeovilton at about 3.45pm. Had they reported a problem and thought about/tried landing there or was she around Yeovilton for another reason?

[Hurn]

They've used the airspace over Yeovilton in the past for test flights and display practices, so perhaps this was just another quick hop between there and Hurn for a brief shakedown flight.

[paul178]

Port U/C leg does not look to clever from this shot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-17629779

[PeterW]

How do you get a taxi accident from this?

In markstringers defence, the link in the first post has been updated several times as more details came out.

[Snoopy7422]

When it come to a/c, the word 'crash' should be licenced only for the use of qualified adults.

[markstringer]

Cheers Peter.

The report I read was completely different from the one highlighted.

Not that it matters, as the important thing is the airframe appears as good as hopes for in an instance such as this, and more importantly the pilot appears unscathed.

Let's hope it's a relatively quick fix and it's back in the air this summer.

[bazv]

Some good quality pics (3) taken during the roll out/collapse...
On Fighter Control (you may have to register to view!)...

http://fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/vi...p?f=18&t=55396

[Wyvernfan]

Nice link Baz.

Have to say after seeing those photos the damage thankfully 'looks' very minimal indeed, and certainly alot less than it could of been. Looks like Simon has pulled off a pretty impressive landing all things considered.!

[pagen01]

Good images Baz, it looks like there is none, or minimal, damage to vital airframe areas, looks like it might have been a blessing that the pylons and tanks were fitted as well. A good outcome for the pilot and aircraft considering.

[Wokka Bob]

Lets all hope the damage is superficial.

Unfortunately, its the damage you cannot see thats the worry!

Yes I know, ever the pessimist.

[Muscle-Manta]

I think the Vixen had four different hydraulic systems which needed a lot of tlc back in the day to keep working properly. I have the book "The De- Havilland Sea Vixen" by Tony Buttler. Excellent book one chapter deals with individual history's for each airframe. There are numerous incidents of nose or main gear collapsing on landing. However XP924 seems to have escaped a U/C leg collapse on landing until now.

The following is an extract from from the history of XP924 which records the following landing/take off incidents; Port tyre burst on landing skidded to port, Yeovilton, Cat LQ 7.10.66 (Lt GJMW Broadwater & S/L RG Parker); Std tyre burst on landing, aircraft ran off runway, Cat HC 15.12.66 (Lt GJWM Broadwater & S/L BM Brock) ; Port tyre burst on take-off, recovered into PUAG Cat LQ 2.3.70 (LT JM Dixon)

Cat LQ - Light damage repairable by squadron resources
Cat HC - Heavy Damage repairable on Ship or station but requiring contractor's working party.

I do hope the damage sustained in this incident is minimal and we can enjoy seeing XP924 in the air again soon.

[P-K]

hi to all,thanfuly Simon is ok. it was not a crash it was an accident! the damage to her ( as far as we have found) is mainly around the nose area, radome, all the nose doors, gun blisters, speed brake and of course the port pylon tank, its not very nice, be hopefully we can repair her. We have most of what is required to get her back but we as yet have not been able to get to all the damage.

[pagen01]

Thanks for posting P-K at what must be an awkward time.

Though the structure is similar and as straightforward as say a Hunter, the Vixen does use complicated electrical, fuel, and hydraulic systems, it's possibly the most complex aircraft operating as a historic type with a PtF on the CAA register.

The type didn't seem to suffer hydraulic failures beyond the standard of the day really, especially when you consider that the rigors of carrier deck operations always heightens low speed control and undercarriage issues. On top of that, no Sea Vixen was lost in service to a hyd failure.
It does have the four hyd systems which does allow some systems duplication, which I understand is one of the reasons that we still have one flying.
The Air Britain book does dwell on the losses a bit, but there are very few that can be linked to a common theme, it was a big and powerful aircraft for the FAA to take on in that period and it's interesting to see how quickly the accident rate went down towards the end of its carrier ops, and how very few aircraft related accidents occured post carrier life, ie with ATDU/FRADU and the RAE etc.

I spoke with a renowned pilot of the type recently, and his words seem to back up the facts, in that the main common problems were the complicated fuel management systems for the crew, and a problem with the attitude and altitude information in service combat conditions which was attributed to some losses.
My understanding is that XP924 has modifications to its fuel systems to allow better management of it?

To me, this seems like an incident that can befall any aircraft, modern or old. The two under nose rocket pack blisters and the drop tanks look like they were a blessing in that they appear to have taken the brunt of the damage before reaching structures like the bulkhead and wingtips & pito.

Thankfully there are people and outfits around with the dedication to keep these aircraft flying against the odds, to which we must be very thankful.

[Bruce]

Many thanks to P-K for a quick and honest update on the aircraft.

It saves a lot of guessing!

Best of luck with it; I hope repairs are possible, affordable, and certifiable!!


Bruce

[ZRX61]

That'l buff out