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C-130 News: Report details mid-air collision of Fort Bragg planes, faults crews


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The Army and Air Force planes, which were carrying 13 people on separate training exercises, declared emergencies and landed safely, the report said.

The Army Special Operations Command C-27J and the Air Force C-130H collided about eight miles south of Camp Mackall around 8:22 p.m. on Dec. 1.

The C-27 was traveling from the Laurinburg-Maxton airport to two drop zones for simulated airdrops. The C-130 was performing an escape maneuver to egress the Luzon Drop Zone after completing a visual Container Delivery System airdrop, according to the report, which the newspaper obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The right wingtip of the C-27 grazed the right underside of the C-130 at the nose gear door, which damaged the gear door and tore the flare dispenser hood from the fuselage.

The C-27's vertical stabilizer, or tail, crossed in front of the nose of the C-130 and between the prop arcs of the C-130's No. 3 and No. 4 engines. The vertical stabilizer came into contact with the front of the C-130's right external fuel tank and continued its impact down the inboard side of the No. 4 engine and leading edge of the right wing near the engine mount, according to the report.

There were no injuries to the eight Air Force crew members of the C-130 or five Army crew members of the C-27, according to the report.

The C-130 sustained damage to the leading edge of the right wing and No. 4 engine. Officials estimate the damage and cleanup for the C-130 at $1.8 million.

The C-27 sustained significant damage to the top third of the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Damage estimates are still being calculated.

The Accident Investigation Board, which investigated the collision, found "clear and convincing evidence that the cause of the mishap was a breakdown in visual scan resulting in insufficient clearing of the aircraft flight path by both aircrews," according to the report.

Both aircrews were over-reliant on Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems to alert them to potential traffic conflicts. Also, both crews became complacent due to the routine nature of the mission profiles, according to the report.

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View original article: http://www.fayobserver.com/military/...f1a60b720.html


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  • 4 months later...

Lucky crews! On one hand, I think automation is the biggest challenge facing pilots today and in the future. How many crews turn on the AP on climb out and then leave it there until their approach...or longer! I think many of these commercial flights like Air France over the Atlantic and the one that just happened, AirAsia flying to Singapore, hit bad vertical winds and the pilots tried unsuccessfully to fly those planes by hand. In my mind they mis-interpreped the airplane's cues and lost control. More pilots should go through upset recovery training so they can experience those unusual attitudes and get themselves out of that situation.

On the other hand, what happened with TCAS on these airplanes? Why didn't TCAS see the other airplane? It was because the crews were too reliant on TCAS they didn't do normal scanning.

There's nothing wrong with automation if its used as a tool and not as a crutch! These guys will never put so much faith into TCAS again.

Pass on lessons learned!

- FredG (Armchair Crewman)

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Lucky lucky crew, going thru this at night and being able to put down both ac safely! Years back (1992) two Antanov, AN-32s collided in India flying astern to each other at night. The ac in No 3 posn visually missed No 2 ahead and accelerated to catch up with No1 (mistaking him as No 2). Result-No 3 tore thru No 2 left wing with his rudder. No 2 went down vertically with no reaction, No 3 flew for a few minutes; lost directional control and finally crashed hitting the ground wings level. Terrible loss. Formation was visual then and cues of distance from ac ahead were taken from Primus WX radar! There were no traffic avoidance systems on ac then. But with the automation today and the additional SA available in the cockpit, such mishaps should be gone. Sadly they still happen. Lessons plenty for aviators....Fly safe!

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