Video of B-2 Bomber crash released

[einreb]

Pretty wild stuff. The 'cause' and video released. Pilots stuck it out till the last moment... gigantic nads IMO.

http://guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/VIDEO/80606011

5:15 a.m. - “Distorted data” caused the first ever crash of a B-2 Spirit Bomber on Feb. 23.

Maj. Gen Floyd Carpenter, 8th Air Force vice commander and president of the accident investigation board, released the cause of the crash this morning.
Advertisement
AdTech Ad

Carpenter said moisture on sensors attached to the wings cause the aircraft to make an unnecessary and miscalculated flight action, resulting in the crash.

The board began investigating about a week after the crash. The investigation took seven weeks and consisted of 26 interviews, Carpenter said.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Ballsy pilots, that's for sure. Of course, if your airplane cost over $1B, you'd try to save it too. Basically their technology failed them, too bad.

[sammyg2]

That dude has a HUGE carbon footprint now

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by einreb

... gigantic nads IMO.

'Ya think? Jeeezuz.

[URY914]

They survived?

[450knotOffice]

Yup. They punched out as the airplane started to roll left.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

Are you talking airplanes or today's Porsches?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yes.

[cgarr]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

When I flew the B-17 that thing would give you quite a workout if you wanted to do anything but straight and level and thats not that big now a days. Mechanical linkages are nice until they get shot thru

[charleskieffner]

aeropuertos and aircraft and racing ARE INHERENTLY DANGEROUS AND MAY CAUSE LOSS OF LIFE OR LIMB!!!!!!!

how would you like to be taxing a plane or driving down tarmac minding yer own biz and a ball of flame fills your windshield????????? YIKES!

[jmshepard]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

Unfortunately that aircraft is inherently unstable and couldn't fly without electronic aids.

I read that if the B2 was crafted out of gold, it would be less expensive than the metal alloy, carbon fiber and silicon version...Of course that was many years ago before the current financial climate.

[Whtnkls911]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

are You Talking Airplanes Or Today's Porsches?

+1

[m21sniper]

There goes 3billion dollars and 5% of our state of the art heavy bombing fleet...

[Hawktel]

Just to comment on the heavy bombing fleet, don't we have a number of BUFF's still around? I think if push comes to shove can can get them to drop the ordnance where it needs to go.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Hawktel

Just to comment on the heavy bombing fleet, don't we have a number of BUFF's still around? I think if push comes to shove can can get them to drop the ordnance where it needs to go.

We have several dozen B-52Hs left, and another several dozen B-1B's.

But only 20(scratch that)....19 "state of the art" B-2s.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

The problem is that the B2 and other recent war planes simply cannot fly without the aid of computers. We are now building planes that are aerodynamically unstable -- like a bird -- that means it takes brain power to constantly adjust the control surfaces. You get extraordinary maneuverability, but you cannot fly a bird by using the brain of an insect.

[m21sniper]

We've actually been building electronic birds since the 70s. The F-16A, fielded in the late 70s was, IIRC, the first "Fly by wire" jet in service.

Nowadays, everything is FBW, even cargo planes.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Just another reason I prefer mechanical linkages, cables, hydraulics and other stuff I can actually understand to a bunch of black boxes that do who-knows-what all built by the lowest bidder.

Why, back in my day we didn't need all that fancy power brake stuff, we had cable operated drum brakes and we were glad to gave em!
Sure they didn't stop the car, but you always knew what to expect when you pushed on the pedal.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Funny guys.

Point is that electronic crap isn't necessarily better. I like my 911 precisely because it DOESN'T rely on electronic junk that is impossible to diagnose/repair in order to run. On a newer vehicle, your only option is to hope the stuff does what it's supposed to and if it doesn't, pay a fortune to "R&R" it. How is this an improvement exactly?

Don't want to sound totally Ted Kaczynski-ish here with the blaming of all the world's problems on modern technology, but all I'm saying is I feel a little better flying an aircraft (or driving a car) where the resulting actions of the control inputs are actually understandable, not just "oh, it all gets interpreted by a computer and the computer figures it out". Should we really be trusting everything to a bunch of programmers? Who put those guys in charge of our world? I know a few programmers and believe me, I don't want them in charge of a coffee maker, much less my car or airplane. I'm grateful that all the aircraft I ever flew back in my cargo days were analog. The only electronics in them was the avionics. Fine by me. As a pilot, the essence of your life is CONTROL, and if you don't have it (or can't understand it) it's unsettling.

I saw this report today that it was simple condensation on sensors. Condensation doesn't really affect cables & hydraulic lines that much last I checked. And $1.4B will buy a lot of cables and hydraulics.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/crash.ap/index.html

Air Force: Moisture caused $1.4 billion bomber crash

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AP) -- The Air Force said the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in sensors and estimated the loss of the aircraft at $1.4 billion.

The Air Force stopped flying B-2 stealth bombers for two months after the crash.

The crash probably could have been avoided if knowledge of a technique to evaporate the moisture had been disseminated throughout the B-2 program, Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Carpenter, who headed an accident investigation board, said Thursday.

The Spirit of Kansas abruptly pitched up, rolled and yawed to the left February 23 before plunging to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. Both pilots ejected safely just after the left wing made contact with the ground; it was the first crash since the maiden B-2 flights nearly 20 years ago.

"It was just by the grace of God that they were safe, and the good [ejection] system," Carpenter said.

Water distorted preflight readings in three of the plane's 24 sensors, making the aircraft's control computer force the B-2 to pitch up on takeoff, resulting in a stall and subsequent crash.

Carpenter said the pilots and crew followed procedures and "the aircraft actually performed as it was designed. In other words, all the systems were functioning normally."

However, a technique learned by some two years ago that had gone widely unknown and unadopted probably would have prevented the crash, Carpenter said. The technique essentially heats the sensors and evaporates any moisture before data calibrations.

"This technique was never formalized in a technical order change or captured in 'lessons learned' reports. Hence, only some pilots and some maintenance technicians knew of the suggestion," according to Carpenter's executive summary of the accident.

The report said, "The human factor of communicating critical information was a contributing factor to this mishap."

The general said his responsibility was solely for the investigation of the crash and added that the report was forwarded to commanding officers to determine whether any disciplinary measures are required.

The sensors measure air pressure to help calculate everything from airspeed to altitude. Because of the bad data, flight computers had inaccurate airspeed and wrongly indicated a downward angle, which contributed to an early rotation and uncontrolled 30-degree pitch up.

Carpenter said the lack of altitude and airspeed prevented the pilots from correcting the aircraft.

Guam, 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii, is known for its humidity. But the Air Force said water in the sensors never caused any problems.

The Spirit was delivered in February 1995 and expected to be in service for another 50 years.

The bomber had been returning to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The Air Force grounded the B-2s after the crash and resumed flying them in late April.

Carpenter said procedures and policies are now in place to guard against similar crashes.

"It's fortunate the crew was able to safely eject. It's unfortunate, however, that we lost one of our nation's penetrating bombers," said Gen. Carrol H. Chandler, commander of Pacific Air Forces.