PDA

View Full Version : F-16 Bird Strike


Kevy Baby
06-08-2006, 08:44 PM
Note: I know this will not appeal to everyone. No I am not rejoicing in the loss of the bird's life, nor am I celebrating the loss of a very expense, government owned aircraft. I just found the video fascinating and wanted to share.

The text below is what was in the email when this was sent to me.

I looked on Snopes and a few other places for confirmation of the reality of this footage, but couldn't find anything. If someone (GD) DOES find something that says this is bogus, go ahead and post it.

Link to the video (http://homepage.mac.com/kelder/.cv/kelder/Sites/.Public/F-16_vs_bird_050808.wmv-zip.zip). Hopefully this works okay for you.

F-16 engine ingests bird after takeoff @ Tyndall AFB.

I thought you might find it interesting to see a crash from the cockpit of an airplane. Pretty interesting; it is an instructor pilot in the rear and a student in the front seat of an F-16.

A "Bird Strike," as seen through the Heads Up Display (HUD). You can see the bird flash by just prior to impacting the engine. You can hear the aircraft voice warning system telling them they have a problem and referring to the "D-6 NL" which means there is no engine RPM. They made 2 attempts to relight the jet engine, but evidently there was too much damage from the bird strike and they had to get out.

These guys were very cool; note the heavy breathing.. they certainly flew longer than one would expect before ejecting. Airspeed can be observed on the HUD's upper left corner. It goes down to the low 120's as they struggle to get the engine going again, but as the plane noses over and dives to earth it increases to at least 175 just before impact.

It just goes to show how quickly your day can go to pieces - 45 seconds from strike to ejection.

All and all, not bad. They ran the emergency checklist, made two relight attempts, and picked out a plowed field for impact before ejecting. You can follow the audio attached to it and hear the conversation between the pilot and instructor pilot and then the tower including the pilot saying they were punching out. The tower didn't seem to completely understand it all, and missed the significance of the last transmission.

His last radio call, he's talking to an empty aircraft.

The video continues until impact, even after they both eject. A classic "buying the farm" as you can see the plow rows get bigger. A real nice job from the aircrew by keeping their cool and turning the aircraft away from populated areas.

No one hurt and no one killed.

CoasterMatt
06-08-2006, 09:02 PM
Cue the Chicken Dance :D
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/coastermatt/images/chicken.gif

wendybeth
06-08-2006, 09:15 PM
I used to live near Tyndall. There's gators there!

BarTopDancer
06-08-2006, 09:25 PM
here (http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/02/01/Navigation/192/204464/VIDEO+NFTC+CT-155+Hawk+pilots+eject+after+bird+strike.html) is an article discussing the video. It's real, but an BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk trainer (ZJ670/155202) belonging to NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) rather than an F-16.

Thanks Kevy!

Kevy Baby
06-08-2006, 09:35 PM
Thanks for the link Tigs!

tracilicious
06-08-2006, 10:00 PM
That was cool.

Not Afraid
06-08-2006, 10:06 PM
Soooo, Kevy.......how do I play .wmv files on my Mac?

Kevy Baby
06-08-2006, 10:28 PM
Soooo, Kevy.......how do I play .wmv files on my Mac?Download and install Windows Media Player for Mac (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=windowsmedia). This link also has a product called Flip4Mac, but I have never tried it. I say give it a spin as Windows Media Player on the Mac is iffy.

Not Afraid
06-08-2006, 10:39 PM
HA! Flip4Mac doesn't support the new Intel machines.

And, why and I doing this on what should've been "A Day without Technology"?

wendybeth
06-08-2006, 10:59 PM
NA, given the Amish comment and the post above, am I correct in assuming you're having a technologically challenged day?

Welcome to my world!!!!

Not Afraid
06-08-2006, 11:09 PM
Well, I have overleaded my circuits with newness. Normally, I'm pretty adaptabl to new technology, but within the past 3 weeksI 've gotten a) a new camera, b) a new computer with an entirerly different platform, and c) a brand new phone that is NOT a Nokia (which I've always had). Everything is new and MANY things are not going right.

Take away my camera - fine. Take away my computer - I'll deal. Take away my phone and I can't BREATH!

I've just reached my limit. for the day. But, yet, I'm still playing around.

Anyone got a hair shirt and some flailing instrument I can borrow?

wendybeth
06-08-2006, 11:23 PM
What kind of phone?

Not Afraid
06-09-2006, 10:06 AM
What kind of phone?


A Morotola PEBL (in orange) with a bluetooth headset.

http://www.simoncells.com/ProdImages/MOTPEBL-ORGlg.jpg

Love the bluetooth headset, hate the learning curve.

DisneyFan25863
06-10-2006, 10:57 PM
NA, try VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html). It can read WMVs and it has an Intel Mac version.