1 US Air Force pilot dead, 1 hurt after ejecting from U-2 spy plane

[webfact]

1 Air Force pilot dead, 1 hurt after ejecting in California

By RICH PEDRONCELLI and JONATHAN J. COOPER

 

SUTTER, Calif. (AP) — One American pilot was killed and another injured when they ejected from a U-2 spy plane shortly before it crashed in Northern California on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Air Force said.

 

The plane crashed shortly after taking off from Beale Air Force Base on a training mission around 9 a.m., military officials said. They did not release the pilots' names or any information about the condition of the surviving airman.

 

The aircraft, assigned to the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, crashed in the Sutter Buttes, a mountain range about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Sacramento.

 

Col. Larry Broadwell, the base commander, said the flight, including its flight path was routine before the crash. He pledged to support the family of the deceased pilot and said surveillance pilots will mourn the loss.

 

"These incidents, while extremely tragic and hard for us to overcome, they're incidents that we do overcome," Broadwell said. "I am confident that the U-2 squadrons here and the U-2 squadrons around the world are going to come off the mat stronger than they were before."

 

The U-2 "Dragon Lady" is a surveillance and reconnaissance plane capable of flying above 70,000 feet (21,336 meters), an extremely high altitude that's twice as high as a typical commercial airliner flies. The U-2 is known as one of the most difficult aircraft to fly at low altitudes due to the characteristics that allow it to travel near space, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

 

Beale Air Force Base is home to the Air Force's fleet of single-seat U-2s and a double-seat variant used for training pilots to fly the specialized aircraft. It also is the base for the T-38 Talon, a training aircraft, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance drone. It houses 4,500 military personnel.

 

"We are saddened by our Airman's death & offer condolences to the family & all who are mourning this tremendous loss," Gen. Dave Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said on Twitter.

 

Ejection seats allow military pilots to get out of a stricken plane and parachute safely to the ground. After the death in this instance, military investigators will look into whether the chute properly deployed and whether the pilot hit debris after ejecting, said Michael Barr, an aviation safety instructor at University of Southern California who flew fighter missions in Vietnam.

 

"If the chute didn't properly deploy, that would be fatal," Barr said.

 

The U-2 is slated for retirement in 2019 as the military relies increasingly on unmanned aircraft for intelligence gathering, though senior U.S. lawmakers from California are pressuring the Air Force to delay the retirement.

 

A U-2 based at Beale crashed in 1996 and slammed into the parking lot of a newspaper in Oroville, California. The pilot and a woman who had just renewed her newspaper subscription were killed.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-21

 

[Dipterocarp]

godspeed

[derator01]

Stick to the topic and show respect or face a posting suspension.

[yogi100]

Gary Powers was  flying a U2 back in 1960 when he was shot down. The U2 must be getting a bit dated now in 2016. The wings would droop with the weight of fuel they could hold.

[colinneil]

Sad being killed like that, R.I.P.

Flying a U2 they are nearly as old as me.

Remember Gary Powers flying a U2 over Russia back in the 1960s.

I thought they had been retired years ago.

[Morch]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Sad being killed like that, R.I.P.

Flying a U2 they are nearly as old as me.

Remember Gary Powers flying a U2 over Russia back in the 1960s.

I thought they had been retired years ago.

 

I think most of the aircraft in service were produced in the 1980's and 1990's.

There were also several general modifications and improvements introduced.

 

RIP

[Roota]

Yes, they've worked hard to update them. Remarkable that they've now outlasted their supposed successor, the Blackbird, by almost 20 years, and are still more cost-efficient than the Global Hawk drone. At this rate they may still be around for a while.

 

Doesn't make 'em any easier to fly though . . .

[billd766]

31 minutes ago, Roota said:

Yes, they've worked hard to update them. Remarkable that they've now outlasted their supposed successor, the Blackbird, by almost 20 years, and are still more cost-efficient than the Global Hawk drone. At this rate they may still be around for a while.

 

Doesn't make 'em any easier to fly though . . .

 

The U2 was developed from the Martin B57 which was a licence built English Electric Canberra PR3. The Canberra first flew on 13 May 1949 (I was nearly 5 years old then) and entered RAF service on 25 May 1951 and finally retired from the RAF Service 23 June 2006.

 

There are still about 10 Canberras in private ownership and still flying.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by billd766
I hit the wrong key and posted too early.

[tifino]

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

The U2 was developed from the Martin B57 which was a licence built English Electric Canberra PR3. The Canberra first flew on

 

yes, and both of the above (albeit unrelated, yet of the same genre) Types, with their exaggerated wingspans,

have(or had) already suffered stress failures over the decades

 

[billd766]

57 minutes ago, tifino said:

 

yes, and both of the above (albeit unrelated, yet of the same genre) Types, with their exaggerated wingspans,

have(or had) already suffered stress failures over the decades

 

 

However the Canberra did not have an exaggerated wingspan and as it was designed in the late 1940s it was over engineered thus stronger but heavier than it needed to be.

 

It was them pesky 'merkins that screwed up a perfectly good design.

[tifino]

16 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

However the Canberra did not have an exaggerated wingspan and as it was designed in the late 1940s it was over engineered thus stronger but heavier than it needed to be.

 

It was them pesky 'merkins that screwed up a perfectly good design.

 

the generic Canberra - No,

 

but, then there was the :   Martin RB-57DCanberra

 

 

... and the NASA ones:

 

NASA WB-57 Canberra

Edited September 21, 2016 by tifino

[rosst]

RIP the brave men and women who serve their country, we live and sleep well because of them.

Our thanks to them all.

[Pib]

RIP.

 

I still remember being stationed at Utapao AB, Thailand in the early 70's which had B-52s, KC-135 refueling tankers and U-2s at the time.  The U-2s would frequently use a landing pattern of circling down from a great height "directly over the base" vs using a long glide slope to avoid being seen by too many people, swooped in for a landing as a Chevy El Camino chased it down the runway to put wingtip support wheels on the wing tips while still moving, and then the U2 would taxi directly into a hangar where the hangar doors were promptly closed.

[Basil B]

AFAIK the last ones were made in the 80's and were due to be retired in 2012 so I suppose they will not be able to replace this one.

[Haunebu]

Think I need a happy ending massage or something, 'cause I read
"1 Air Force pilot dead, 1 hurt after ejaculating in California"
and wondered what the hell happened? 

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Haunebu

[Pib]

28 minutes ago, Basil B said:

AFAIK the last ones were made in the 80's and were due to be retired in 2012 so I suppose they will not be able to replace this one.

Guess there are now 32 U-2s left based on this U.S. Air Force webpage as of Sep 15

http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104560/u-2stu-2s.aspx

 

Inventory: active force, 33 (5 two-seat trainers and two ER-2s operated by NASA); Reserve, 0; ANG, 0

[NickJ]

Call Tom, maybe they can do a sequel. 

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, NickJ said:

Call Tom, maybe they can do a sequel. 

Wrong aircraft. 

[Stargeezr]

These old  veteran aircraft were  marvel and still are.  They have flown countless hours getting great images for the US military and other agencies that needed them. Sad to hear that another one has crashed. I am just glad that the USA ha these U2 jets to use as long as they did.  RIP to the  pilot that was killed, and I hope the other pilot  recovers okay from his injuries.

Geezer