F-35B HMS Queen Elizabeth Accident Investigation Report Review

[@dannyfowler7055]

In the Navy it’s called “Positive Tool Control”. As an old Maintenance Petty Officer said, if we don’t find the tools, we will all be here until 2500, and by God that’s late!

[@jayrod9979]

Missing tool procedures are a nightmare. Nothing in or out of the workshop. I was a tool PO as an AT in the Navy. All gear that has been RFIed(ready for issue) in the time frame the tool box was open has to be recalled until the tool is found. Also most important, missing pieces of a broken tool are considered a broken tool. Think about how small the tip of a jeweler's screw driver, if part of that breaks finding the broken piece is difficult. The concern being a piece of metal fragment being loose in a closed box making contact with electronics and causing a fire.

[@dannyfowler7055]

Absolutely, AE1 Chuck Cunningham was my friend and neighbor while we were both with VQ-1 on Guam, a fine man who sadly has passed. his humorous remarks about tool control were right on point, no one goes home and the aircraft doesn’t fly until the missing is located. I worked Maintenance Control for many years. Too much at stake to do it any other way. Great remarks Shipmate!

[@quise5751]

I worked on the F-35 platform as a Crew Chief, and on my first Launch and Recovery, Right before the pilot was to taxi, My 7-level saw that the tail pin was still installed... and I got my ass CHEWED out. ahhh, good times.

[@jmax8692]

Incompetence deserves to be reprimanded

[@Streaky100001]

As a Brit it's really weird to hear someone refer to that infamous squadron as six seventeenth, rather than six one seven.

[@speedbird300]

Infamous? You work for the Beeb?

[@level1804]

617 or Six One Seven, is probably the most famous Squadron in history.

[@paulappleyard5832]

A TV crew followed the deployment and interviewed the pilot after the event. It was a very hard deployment as a lot of the crew came down with covid so people were stretched. I'm surprised the red gear isn't counted on and off the aircraft it cost 80 million.

[@michaelmackenzie790]

The incident was caught on camera by a film crew filming aboard. The series was shown on TV, but I haven't found the episode online yet

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnfSqnx5oJWkgMU

[@quasar_33b]

Episode 6, Warship tour of duty, might be able to watch though a VPN

[@petesheppard1709]

I was following the series, and when the relevant episode wasn't released, I presumed it was being held pending the official investigation.

[@mattthill93]

Hey Mover. The “blank” in question that was blowing around is a big circular foam puck that you put into the exhaust nozzle which is also a piece of the red gear. The just happen to come out all the time. I know that from experience on the platform.

[@dwhonan]

It's also shown and labeled Figure 1.3.6 of the report, visible on screen at 1:49.

[@mattthill93]

@@dwhonan yup exactly that

[@petesheppard1709]

So, for us uncouth colonials, intake and exhaust plugs...

[@AA-xo9uw]

'The “blank” in question'(sic) Is the port intake cover not the exhaust plug.

[@Knight-Rider01]

Us Brits are made of tough stuff you know! 😂

[@marklnz]

A round of applause for the salvage effort - 2000m down and they *recovered it*??? That's like, close to 1 and a quarter miles down for those who don't do metric.

[@DeltaTango]

I'm a P/C on the Carrier-ized British jet; T-45C Goshawk...all the nomenclature in the pubs are British, ie: Intakes are Inlets, etc. A tail exhaust, or intakes "blank" is the FOD cover that is affixed to the jet exhaust tail-pipe, and intake openings when secured from flight-ops.

[@shooter2055]

"Gimme another jet!" Love it!

[@gregorymaupin6388]

Exhaust Blanks are the cover for the exhaust if my memory is correct. We called the cover over intake simply the intake cover.

[@Ryanboy2020]

Lemoine has me cracking up with his dry humor..lol.

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

This is worth watching just to hear Mover's English accent.

[@level1804]

This accident was down to procedures not being in place or not followed. It was ingrained into me during my time in the RAF, that you NEVER let an aircraft even move if all the tools are not back in place. The intake blank is a tool and should have been counted out, then counted in. If the shadow board is not complete, then questions need to be asked of the crew chief and his staff. I’ve spent many hours over my career looking for missing items but never let an aircraft go without finding it. FOD PLOD was mind numbing and demeaning, but it can save lives.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

I watched this on the patron page I guess, but it's always worth another look. I can believe that there is a lot of redaction. Also happy the aviator is back at it. Thanks gents.

[@CWLemoine]

We don’t have a Patreon…???

[@roderickcampbell2105]

@@CWLemoine Oops. Sorry. My only excuse is that I did say "I guess". My next guess would be Mover and Gonky Monday? I don't have the discipline nor recall of fighter pilots. I guess.

[@RocketToTheMoose]

"Blanking off" (so to speak) is a term I've heard in watching Formula 1 for covering/taping over ducts or openings in a car. I assume its a UK think.

[@bohemoth7683]

As a brit I can guarantee the pilot felt embarrassed more than anything after crashing and just wanted to be ignored for the rest of the day!

[@alanholck7995]

617 Squadron (Dambusters) is considered one of the top squadrons in RAF, used to be at RAF Lossimouth flying Tornados.

[@glaabaglooba]

Apres moi, le deluge 👌

[@REktSigMa]

Exhaust Blank is the Blank Blank beside the Intake Blank.

[@JamesG19771]

I wonder what happened to the jet. Scrapped / Parts / Ground crew training?

[@henryhbk]

Why do they redact the large landmarks on the diagram of the carrier. I mean I am assuming those arrows don’t point to “secret thing under the deck right there” since nothing about the ship would be pertinent to this AIB report? especially the ejection sequence, since they verbally describe the sequence, easy enough to figure out what most labels have. Seems like some sort of sensor (say RFID tags on red gear could be a very simple solution (like the EZ-Pass style active tags. Sure they are an added cost, but when talking about F-35, hard to even consider that since it’ barely an infinitesimal proportion. Then you could just point a reader gun at the plane and it better not detect anything. We do the same in the OR to make sure nothing is in the patient we wave the tennis racket reader (they are passive tags so have a very short range)

[@zipz8423]

No need to tell the bad guys all of our procedures.

[@JeanBatiste5158]

I'm not mecanic, but is their a way to test the thrust at push it max while the aircraft still in no fly position before takeoff?

[@JeanBatiste5158]

@@HerbertTowers thinks

[@petesheppard1709]

There is an engine runup before brake release, to ensure proper engine performance, if not to max power, as HerbertTowers points out. The intake plug apparently shifted enough to allow just enough airflow to become normal, then moved some more to 'choke' air off to the engine.

[@kevinhampton2068]

You can't keep a good Brit down!

[@animaltvi]

Didnt kniw anyti g about this. Its pretty amazing really. We actually have planes on our carrier. 😅

[@petesheppard1709]

In a manner of speaking, it WAS the pilot's fault, since his preflight walkaround is intended to catch such oversights as intake plugs left in. After all, it's HIS happy arse on the line, and his check is the last chance to catch such hazards.

[@davispen]

As former ground crew, I would definitely consider myself the one primarily responsible. It is the ground crew`s job to remove and account for all the blanks/

[@petesheppard1709]

@@davispen It's a shared responsibility, all right and all accidents are the result of a chain of mistakes. One thought recently occurred to me and hopefully, you can clarify. Mover read from the report that filters were used on flashlights at night; how well would the red plugs show up in red, blue or amber light?

[@jedcheng5551]

The report also suggested that it was COVID time. Many crews were isolating leading much more work for the ppl that were not isolating.

[@petesheppard1709]

@@jedcheng5551 I was watching the TV series covering the cruise, and the covid restrictions definitely added to the stress aboard ship.

[@andresilvasophisma]

Google is subtitling Gonky's name as Donkey and Gunky. I don't know what to say at this point.

[@vxe6vxe6]

The F-35 can't fly single engine out?

[@Justowner]

there is only one engine.

[@gamekeeper55]

He didn't convert from metric...

[@ashlingcullen5017]

The Pilot strolled back along the Flight Deck under his own steam for a much needed Cuppa. The Jet was recovered and with a bit of Gaffa Tape, was good to go. 🙂

[@james8449100]

Arn-nam the h is soo soft it's almost silent

[@marshalllaw5732]

It's HMS Queen Elizabeth not " the" HMS Queen Elizabeth.

[@REktSigMa]

Welp That is literally money in the sea. Yō could you guys stand there a throw Billions of dollars in the ocean? LOL. Wow!?

[@GrantvsMaximvs]

Sure are a lot of Fat Amy accidents...

[@trentnordhagen]

I just seems that way because it's new(ish) and the internet is now a thing. Pretty sure the early years of the f16 we're way worse

[@LRRPFco52]

Nope. All 3 variants combined are the least accident-prone fighters ever designed. For example, in the first 10 years of Harrier operational history, I found at least 100 airframe losses and 20 fatalities. F-16 first 10 years... 143 total losses, 71 fatalities. F/A-18: 97 losses, 27 fatalities

[@LRRPFco52]

​@@trentnordhagenNot only were the first 10 years of the F-16 horrendous in comparison, but the F-16 was the safest single engine fighter up to that point. F-106, F-105, F-104, F-102, and F-100 had way higher Class A mishap rates, fatality rates, and total losses per 100,000 flight hours. In the last 10 years across the entire F-16 fleet, we've lost 67 aircraft with 38 fatalities that I could count.

[@AA-xo9uw]

That's a common belief among neophytes.

[@indy500tabasco8]

Big Lemon ever built

[@JeanBatiste5158]

Brits are just Lucky they are an island

[@quasar_33b]

What's that suppose to mean?

[@JeanBatiste5158]

@quasar_33b if britania wasn't an island, then any other country would easily invade it.

[@quasar_33b]

@saadjorio5765 If America was in Frances' spot, they would have easily invaded in 1939. What a silly observation you've come out with. Hypotheticals aren't really smart and just grasp at straws.

[@JeanBatiste5158]

@@quasar_33b if japan don't bombe Pearl Hambourg in 1941 and usa dont enter war.. james bond would say May name is Fredrich, Fredriich vont Bond.... And all the world know that england is just USA puppy. Ask Tony Blair about it

[@alwayspickswronguns]

We have been invaded by Romans, Normans and Vikings. Australia is also just a very big island 🤷‍♂️😂

[@DonWan47]

“Pilot returned to flying” no kidding. Incredibly the U.K. has more F-35’s than pilots, they could drop ordinance on an orphanage and not have their flight status affected. 😂

[@AA-xo9uw]

"they could drop ordinance"(sic) A scan of the F-35B approved ordnance list doesn't show surrender leaflets or publications.

[@DonWan47]

@@AA-xo9uw ask an adult to help you comment.

[@dragoonpvw]

@DonWan47 He was pointing out your use of ordinance instead of ordnance. It was pretty clever I think, leaflets or publications are ordinance. . What Is the Difference between "Ordinance" and "Ordnance"? "Ordinance" means an authoritative rule or regulation. "Ordnance" means military materiel or artillery.@@DonWan47

[@johndoe-cd9vt]

Next time they should buy a Rafale F4 version instead of a Fat Amy 35 ...

[@JeanBatiste5158]

Casse toi pov con

[@johndoe-cd9vt]

@@JeanBatiste5158 Sarkozou? tu es là mon choux ? ^_^

[@JeanBatiste5158]

​@@johndoe-cd9vtles brits n'achèterais pas des rafales même si les allemands devaient revenir envahir leur îles

[@johndoe-cd9vt]

@@JeanBatiste5158 c'est en qq sorte grace a eux que on a un si bon rafale, si on avait pas ete en desacord total, on aurait pas quitté le programme eurofighter.

[@JeanBatiste5158]

@@johndoe-cd9vt mais ça sera vraisemblablement le dernier le prochain sera en copropriété