Air Force strafing death lawsuit

Extremely sad...

The GREATEST fear of any combat pilot isn't dying in combat, it's putting ordinance on friendlies.

Steve
 
He was struck in the head with a 20 mm round and died several hours later.

That in itself, is bizarre.
 
THParent said:
He was struck in the head with a 20 mm round and died several hours later.

That in itself, is bizarre.
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I wasn't gonna go there...I've seen what 20mm does to other things.

Steve
 
I'd be more interested to see what happened to the pilot. The Air Force in particular has a reputation of letting their pilots off the hook in fratricide incidents.
 
Tex232 said:
I'd be more interested to see what happened to the pilot. The Air Force in particular has a reputation of letting their pilots off the hook in fratricide incidents.
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A very interesting scenario...this was a student pilot on their first NVG, night target ID, night strafe...

Students typically are considered not at fault..." typically." In this instance?

I'm betting they hang the IP and either move the student forward or reassign him/her to a different airframe.

Just my opinion, which with $0.99 here in AZ will get you an "Epic" Polar Pop at Circle K.

Steve
 
I almost had something similar happen. I was running a range with moving targets on rails. There were berms in front of the targets to protect the rails and the cars the targets were mounted on. One of the targets broke so I called the range control about it and they said they would send someone out.
Unbeknownst to me or my NCO, the contractor showed up to the range during a lull when the aircraft were rearming and refueling. He assumed the range was now cold since he didn't see any aircraft and didn't check in with us in the tower even though the range was still hot.
The aircraft returned and, after a cursory glance, I cleared them hot. The contractor's truck was behind a berm in the distance so I didn't notice it.
Suddenly the range radio crackled with "Ceasefire cease-fire!!!" with the brrrrrr, brrrrr of miniguns in the background letting lose with 3000-5000 rounds per minute. I was shocked.
Fortunately for me (and him), the contractor was working on the rail car so the berm protected him. The pilots said they noticed his truck, but thought it was a new target- the contractor parked his truck amongst some vehicle targets. They were about to open up on it but then remembered they were being scored, so they went for the "scored" moving targets where the contractor was working instead.
 
Tex232 said:
The Air Force in particular has a reputation of letting their pilots off the hook in fratricide incidents.
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Not sure I agree, but all circumstances are different when the fog and friction of war or realistic training is involved... hope investigators examine the entirety of the situation.
 
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