Arresting Gear Cable failure

gkainz

gkainz

Final Approach
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Greg Kainz
The flight deck is a very dangerous place to work.
 

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The deck always looked like a fun place to work until things started trying to kill you....well, that is trying to kill you more than normal.

The bugs bunny dude was funny however the rest of the video was just scary. I saw a video from another angle on ?youtube? a while back as the cable went under him.

I could imagine the thought going through the pilots head. Ok, it's stopping now no probuh, OH #$)*^*#$ *(&# @$% BANG.
I got runover by a small sailboat I was on once when the rope I was holding came undone and dumped me over the front. (I was a kid having fun up front) I'm guessing getting run over by an aircraft carrier is a bit more unfun.
 
The flight deck was the scariest place I've ever worked. EVERYTHING up there is trying to kill you; from props turning, jet intakes trying to suck you in, exhausts trying to blow you overboard, yellow gear trying to run you over, to cables trying to mow you down. All this with the noise level so high you feel the vibrations pounding your whole body; the heat and fumes of the engine exhausts searing, scalding and making your eyes run so badly you can't see.

Then add nighttime, pitch black darkness and it REALLY gets scary. Throw in pitching deck (greasy, slippery pitching deck) and you've never experienced anything like it.
 
Hey Greg
Do they slow ops down at night or in weather, or do they try to maintain the same flow?
PS I searched and thankfully no one died in the Sept 2003 incident. Lots of serious injuries however. That guy who jumped 2 cables, superior relfexes, that was amazing.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Hey Greg
That guy who jumped 2 cables, superior relfexes, that was amazing.
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Especially considering how tired he might (probably) was. Long hours at max stress makes me feel really doped up. Well, more than usual. We get kinda loopy after 36 hours straight on a train test, this after two 18 hour days installing instrumentation.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
PS I searched and thankfully no one died in the Sept 2003 incident. Lots of serious injuries however. That guy who jumped 2 cables, superior relfexes, that was amazing.
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The guy standing next to the fork lift was not so lucky.

During ureps(?) (underway sea replentishment) we would pull next to a moving supply ship / carrier and string cables between the ships. We had a cable between the ships break and took a sailor's head off, and broke the legs of some other sailors on the other ship. That was a bad day for someone's family back home. Nothing we could do.

Nothing like a flight deck though. I was TAD (temporary assigned duty) to USS Constellation (affectionately known as "Connie") after being heloed from my destroyer. No room for error, and I had NO idea what I was doing, I just followed the escort infront of me. I was glad to get "home". :yesnod:
 
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I don't recall any slower ops tempo at night when I was there but that was a lot of years ago.

In 1996 on the Nimitz, 1 sailor was killed and 4 injured when an arresting cable broke, and I know there are numerous others.

Just using the Nimitz as an example, I found these:

May 25, 1981 Atlantic Ocean
An EA-6B aircraft attempting to land at night struck a helicopter, then hit another aircraft and tow tractor before coming to rest. A fuel fire erupted. Improved flight deck fire fighting systems quickly contained the fire, and once the fire was believed to be out, the order was given to start the clean-up.
As sailors approached the scene, a SPARROW missile warhead that was buried in the debris detonated. The explosion restarted the fire and three more warheads detonated before the fire could be extinguished. Fourteen sailors were killed and 45 injured. Three planes were destroyed and nine were damaged.


November 30, 1988 Arabian Sea
A 20mm cannon on an A-7 Corsair aircraft accidentally fires during maintenance setting six other aircraft ablaze aboard USS NIMITZ. One sailor is killed when a S-3 aircraft explodes, and another sailor who suffered burns to over 90% of his body later dies after being medically evacuated to Germany. NIMITZ continues operations.


April 18, 1996 Gulf of Thailand
One sailor was killed and four others injured when an arresting cable on NIMITZ' flight deck snapped and struck a group of sailors. The accident happend as an F-14A came in for landing on the deck and the arresting cable broke.

The plane apparently landed safely. It is not known if the plane had to abort its effort to land and circle the ship before returning for a landing.
 
So why did the landing aircraft go off the end and the pilot have to eject? Did the pilot mistakenly not go to maximum thrust like you usually see them do (just in case the cable breaks, like it did in this instance)?
 
I saw it described as the available power (likely full mil) was not enough to overcome the resistance that the cable provided, before it gave way - such that the speed at the end of the deck was less than required to fly away.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I saw it described as the available power (likely full mil) was not enough to overcome the resistance that the cable provided, before it gave way - such that the speed at the end of the deck was less than required to fly away.
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If you look at the last few frames as he goes off the end, his AB is on.....but he clearly doesn't have the airspeed....he did everything correctly!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
So why did the landing aircraft go off the end and the pilot have to eject?
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If the hook catches but then breaks, they've lost so much energy that even max power won't get them back to flying speed before going off the deck. You must eject, and quickly -- when the nosewheel goes off the deck, the aircraft pitches down, and if you don't get out fast enough, it will be pitched so far down that the rocket motors won't get you high enough to get a chute before the seat hits the water. The more modern seats have gyro-stabilization to help right them after leaving the aircraft, but it still may not be enough.

Did the pilot mistakenly not go to maximum thrust like you usually see them do (just in case the cable breaks, like it did in this instance)?
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They go to max thrust (actually, MIL, usually, not MAX, which is full AB -- MIL is full throttle short of AB) in case the hook doesn't catch. If you look closely, you'll see the nozzles fully contract after touchdown as the pilot goes to MIL power.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I had to wonder how he got out of the way of the ship.
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He doesn't -- the ship avoids him (or her). When an aircraft goes in the water in front of the ship, the OOD orders an immediate turn to maneuver the stern away from the aircraft/pilot in the water.
 
bbchien said:
If you look at the last few frames as he goes off the end, his AB is on.....
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You can see the nozzles start to reopen for AB light-off, but you don't actually see the burners light. In this situation, you just can't do enough fast enough to save the plane; all you can do is save yourself.
 
Incredible video. . .
 
well with the angle deck you go over the side of the ship instead of being right in front
 
scroll down to the photo on this link http://www.strangemilitary.com/content/item/8294.html

let's see if I can hot link to it
8294.jpg
 
Ron Levy said:
If the hook catches but then breaks, they've lost so much energy that even max power won't get them back to flying speed before going off the deck.
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What was the last carrier you were on?
 
The cross deck pendants are changed every 50 traps, the shive blocks are changed every 1000 traps, yet they will break when the arresting gear isset too low, and the aircraft will pull the cable to its fully extension.

When the cross deck pendent weighs 750 pounds when coiled on a pallet.

and will be traveling at the speed of light after it threads thru the hook and snaps like a whip.
 
gkainz said:
The flight deck was the scariest place I've ever worked. EVERYTHING up there is trying to kill you; from props turning, jet intakes trying to suck you in, exhausts trying to blow you overboard, yellow gear trying to run you over, to cables trying to mow you down. All this with the noise level so high you feel the vibrations pounding your whole body; the heat and fumes of the engine exhausts searing, scalding and making your eyes run so badly you can't see.

Then add nighttime, pitch black darkness and it REALLY gets scary. Throw in pitching deck (greasy, slippery pitching deck) and you've never experienced anything like it.
Click to expand...

You should meet my Ex wife............... That carrier duty seems mild in comparison..:rofl::rofl:.

All kidding aside. Those guys are pushing the envelope every time they set foot on the flight deck..:yesnod::yikes:
 
gkainz said:
also, as I understand it, the skipper maneuvers the ship to cause the stern to miss the chute, not so much the bow.
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Unless the Captain takes the conn, that's going to be the OOD's responsibility. And yes, keeping the chute out of the screws and their prop wash (which can send the pilot over 100 feet under the surface) is the main concern. That means if the pilot land on the left side of the bow, you may need full left rudder to swing the stern around the pilot.

Ron Levy, OOD, CV-63
 
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