Harrier Crash/Ditch at Lowestoft Air Festival 2002

[@matthewalford2762]

Congratulations to the guy who packed that ejection seat shoot...

[@trinkCOKEorDIE]

wrong@Alec Hemy

[@loganstratholme]

Aircrew love a Squipper

[@bigal3940]

But not the guy who put the throttle lever next to the directional lever!

[@Only_Fools_and_Audits]

@@bigal3940 Or Matthew's English teacher.

[@BoleDaPole]

Sounded like catastrophic engine failure. Good old British workspersonship

[@Foldy435]

"But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means friendship."

[@truebluestu3428]

quality😊

[@eah8101]

Not everyone will get the reference

[@Fatboy00000]

@@eah8101 ''it's a big white one''

[@jamesclack1078]

I was chatting to a guy today about who worked in Incident Investigation for Hawker and I believe he said something along the lines of this whilst showing this exact video: In a Harrier the throttle lever and the lever to adjust the nozzles that control the direction of the thrust are right next to each other. They think that what happened is the pilot pulled the throttle by accident several times as he believed the nozzle controls weren’t doing anything. When he heard the engine note drop, he realised he had been pulling the throttle back by accident and tried to hit it forwards with the palm of his hand - which hit the nozzle controls in the process. This caused the front of the plane to tilt upwards, which meant that the vertical thrust wasn’t supporting the plane anymore - causing it to essentially lose power and crash into the ocean. The pilot bailed out with the ejector seat but landed back on the fuselage of the plane and broke his foot on the air intake. Other than that I believe he was completely fine.

[@SilverrulezGaming]

Description notes exactly what happened.

[@jackmoore313]

I was 5 when this happened, I saw it live. The oil and fuel leaked into the water and we couldn't swim after.

[@bobagopaa]

Same i remember the fuel leaking and the police telling us to get out of the water. Made for a good holiday though

[@mpol701]

bobagopaa you weren't supposed to be in the water the beach patrols were trying all day go stop people going I'm the water when an air display takes place over sea there are strict regulations and that means no boats no swimmers or anything other than officials in water in the exclusion zone imagine if that harrier had crashed onto people in the water he was in the place he's allowed to be to display public in the water were breaking the regulations

[@Backs4more]

Not quite factually true. The pilot was charged with being out with the cleared flying area. You can clearly see the buoys in the sea...he should have been on the far side of them. My late father was in charge of Silver Command that day (The emergency services) and was one of the first to interview the pilot in hospital. The pilot was flanked by RAF Police and was, at that time, under arrest.

[@Blackout-px7sh]

@@mpol701 yeah listen to paul he knows what he is doing

[@tezarmstrong5050]

I was 12, loved it 🤣

[@ramjet177]

pilot error, he pressed triangle...

[@XD-cl7mr]

what game? XD

[@aslaughter4215]

Battle field

[@Y4k3]

(HOLD J to leave aircraft)

[@craigowenlindvalljr8300]

Actually you are kinda close LMFAO. He went to adjust the blower nozzle back to normal so he would start to fly away but accidentally hit the throttle handle while doing so and it started to throttle down. And once momentum starts going down at that low altitude he didn't think he would be able to recover. Surprising because of the low altitude he literally landed back in his seat of the jet again.

[@Y4k3]

He was like “oh I forgot my wallet let me go back quickly”

[@Dan-Payne]

It was at around 1:05 that my dad turned to me and said "that's the only plane in the world that can do that.."

[@techgeekout]

*The only fighter aircraft.

[@GamezGames19]

F-35 can also hover.

[@Dan-Payne]

so my dad isn't a pedantic aeroplane expert, I get it guys but its still a funny story

[@tinglydingle]

***** Well in fairness the F-35 wasn't even a prototype in 2002

[@mrh112]

F35 is new, this was around in the 80's

[@GarybaldyB5]

if you cant hold it steady don't use zoom.

[@earthbuddyat]

as the person who filmed this............i can assure you that if you are unaccustomed to seeing planes crash...... a thing called adrenaline kicks in which im afraid you cant control which caused the shakes after the crash (huh!)

[@jordawolf]

I know right

[@jordawolf]

@@earthbuddyat yeah but he did see the plane crash into water and the pilot eject so there's not much to panic about

[@Megalodon64]

Thank god this happened over water otherwise the pilot would have parachuted down into the fireball and burned to a crisp.

[@PIRANHA_MAN]

LOL. If it was over land it would have been much higher and he would have ejected at a much higher altitude and have avoided it. You cant fly that high over land

[@loganstratholme]

@@PIRANHA_MAN … You clearly don’t understand VTOL then

[@brothaman1312]

@@PIRANHA_MAN Your comment is incorrect; to my knowledge, these aircraft don't fly any higher or lower depending on the surface - if anything it's probably easier to hover over solid surfaces due to a more predictable ground effect. Flying over water doesn't offer one any cushioning that would make a pilot feel more comfortable at ultra-low altitudes - there's a reason why they ejected.

[@hughjanus8211]

2002 and I was at this airshow in lowestoft at the time. I was visiting my grandparents in england for my summer holidays as I live in canada. I remember the plane being right infront of us when it crashed and you could see the fuel in the water after. I must be one of the kids in the ocean in this video. One of my most interesting memories. I heard the pilots sleeve caught the throttle. He was lucky to bail out in time and it think i remember he broke his ankle or somthing.

[@hughjanus8211]

@@brianedward6417 oh come on dude airshows aren't exactly rare. this is the only notable thing that's happened in my life let me have my moment ;) even seeing f-15's and tornados flying over isnt rare in the east of england with the airbases

[@brianedward6417]

@@hughjanus8211 messing with you. Deleted my comment..lol👍

[@hughjanus8211]

@@brianedward6417 ah thought you might have for a second but alas you fooled me in the end ;)

[@cheesetouch101]

In December 2003, 16 months after the crash, an RAF board of inquiry established that Flight Lieutenant Cann had accidentally operated the controls for throttle and nozzle direction lever at the same time, causing the aircraft to plummet 50ft.

[@trollextreme9438]

sounds like engine failure to me

[@BoleDaPole]

Damn they left him out to dry huh Guess they didn't want to admit how faulty the plane was. Good on Cann for falling on his sword for the Bri'ish MIL

[@rossbrown6641]

Wonderful British calculation, yet again!

[@daviddavidson2357]

@@trollextreme9438 Sounds like he pulled back on the throttle. Nozzle and throttle are beside each other.

[@TheEvo86]

@@BoleDaPole i dont think everything was the fault of the plane, after all it still was in service for a long time in RAF and the U.S.M.C. still uses this to this very day, tho they are most likely gonna get replaced soon by the F35B

[@grahamt19781]

I was actually there when this happened, it was weird. It just hovered for ages and everyone thought it was part of the 'show'. The atmosphere was strange when the pilot finally ejected, like people couldn't believe what they had just seen.

[@magicstix0r]

2012TheAndromeda Pilot error, per the description in the video...

[@jamesjackman4638]

I was there in 2002, and saw this crash in person watching it now still gives me the chills. Glad the pilot made it out alive.

[@1tonyboat]

Same here , it was good to see the seat worked as it should ,, i worked on Phantoms and Lightnings back in the early 70`s fitting the Martin Baker seats !!!!

[@Torahboy1]

To say that the Harrier was a difficult plane to fly is an understatement. We sold several to the US Marine Corps. Over half of them were lost in crashes.

[@terrystevens5261]

Yeah, because they thought it was a good idea to put helicopter pilots in them.

[@Torahboy1]

@@terrystevens5261 Plus, they were Americans. “Hell, how hard CAN it be ?”

[@kylek1119]

@@Torahboy1 *Richard Hammond bursts in through the wall* DON'T SAY THAT!

[@TheEvo86]

@@terrystevens5261 LMFAO?

[@TheEvo86]

what it lacks in agility... it compensates in style...

[@sebastiantomczyk4577]

He went into submerge mode. That is the typical procedure for navy fighters jet. When under water, it's really hard to track those planes.

[@4xoverland]

Don't you just hate it when someone texts you at the wrong moment?

[@alexneagu8212]

no

[@TheEvo86]

he fat fingered the turn off engine key

[@Boricua_User146]

John when Pepsi finally gives him a Harrier jet:

[@MrNeilRoberts]

😂😂

[@Blackeyemofo]

Harrier is an amazing jet for anyone who doesn't think so. But I think most can agree that it was ahead of its time when it came out and there needs to be more research done on how to keep those engines cool when it's in that hover mode for extended periods of time

[@LTLoudpack7100]

*cough cough* Yakovlev Yak-141

[@terrystevens5261]

@@LTLoudpack7100 The Yak has more in common with the F35 than the Harrier.

[@LTLoudpack7100]

@@terrystevens5261 yeah, but it was more ahead of it's time than the Harrier and the F-35

[@terrystevens5261]

@@LTLoudpack7100 What's it's combat record like compared with the Harrier?

[@LTLoudpack7100]

@@terrystevens5261 it was developed by a communist country, so it's no surprise it didn't have proper funding to see an extended service.

[@ParaDevik]

I remember watching this happen and then retrieving it. What a great year 2002 was.

[@Draagenn]

You sound 16 max in your vids from 5 years ago, so you were probably less than 2 years old when this happened so I highly doubt you helped retrieve this harrier lmao

[@eivind105]

But you’re a kid, aren’t you..?

[@kengeorge50]

How much did it cost for those few minutes of excitement. I assume the pilot survived

[@adamsmith6594]

It states quite clearly do NOT allow your drone batteries to fall below 20%

[@Lightblue2222]

What they don't report is that 5 fish died on impact and 10 later from the oil spill, other various sea creatures treated for shock.

[@CoolSmoovie]

One day when I was a kid I was living in a small town of less than 2000. This Harrier for some reason started hovering over the town for a few minutes and I’ll never forget it.

[@midly]

thats complete bullshit, unless ur memory is a little messed up on how long the harrier hovered, considering it can only hover for about 90 seconds due to it being water cooled

[@chasing_dragons]

Whose was that, USMC, RAF?

[@cheesehead888]

Who filmed this? Michael J Fox?

[@greghaddock8316]

Does anyone else see the streak go across the top of the jet at about 1:07? I am not sure what that is and can not slow it down enough. Could it be a bug close to the camera? It’s very fast

[@iTzNexXuS]

it looks more to me like just an corruption in the video file itself, probably from being converted from film to digital

[@Umoth]

According to the wiki on Harrier Jump Jet losses the crash was caused by the pilot throttling down, in error. Looking at the film, and taking into account response times, I would guess the loss of power and the decision to eject occurred simultaneously, suggesting mechanical problems. Just glad the Ejector seat was a Zero/Zero model.

[@alexgoodwin7443]

yo i was there and it was down aka the landing gear :P plus look at the start of the vid doppey its down

[@MrSphayes]

alex goodwin it was going to the final display-the bow. engines just cut. it was mechanical fault. worked with harrier pilots

[@horrido666]

MrSphayes That's not what the report says. Report says "cognitive failure...inadvertently retarded the throttle..." Probably ended the pilot's career. I wonder if the crowd wasn't in his flight path if he'd have pushed it forward, opening up the throttle.

[@earthbuddyat]

just read the air investigation report ff sake lol, god this is why england is full of sxxt now........unintelligent ppl

[@TymonB]

0:34 you can actually see sonic the hedgehog sabotage the flight

[@kerbol3757]

The nozzle lever is so close to the throttle, poor guy

[@zeussinternational]

no panic that crash was part of the show..

[@Tomteeejay]

Incorrect you obviously have not witnessed many Harriers in the hover? The hover is standard for all such RAF displays.Nothing to do with hovering too long. Yes it was Pilot error but due to inadvertent switch selection. Copy and paste the following into a search 'Aircraft Accident to Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 ZD464'

[@mrrolandlawrence]

Quoted by the MOD: "The inquiry concluded that the accident was caused by the failure to select the nozzle control lever to the "Hover Stop" following an inadvertent nozzle lever movement".. The pilot ejected successfully, only being injured when hitting the aircraft on the way down"

[@merlin5476]

Opps.... sorry boss.... ive just dumped a few million quid into the sea.. Is this because of the tiny cockpit & various levers far too close to each other?

[@luisramirez-cortez6925]

What happened to the time limit that a harrier could be on hovering? Did the pilot forgot about it?

[@AA-xo9uw]

Hover time is dependent on jet pipe temperature, aircraft weight and ambient conditions. There is no set limit.

[@neilbowers6956]

I wish they'd bring this back! I used to love popping over to Lowestoft to watch it. I was at the event that day and remember hearing people gasp as the Harrier went down. I remember seeing the Typhoon for the first time at this airshow as well and my god that shook the ground when it went over.

[@zestydude87]

whew, well thats good news that he gained it all back. Ive heard it takes a special kind of pilot to fly those Harriers and are very tricky.

[@terabit.]

Hey, people chill out. This was not an accident ! It was a 'widow making' capability of the Harrier been demonstrated !

[@jamwatn]

@assassinops Can you prove this? I'm only going on what I have heard from a couple of sources and I did feel it was a bit over the top. If you can find a decent source I would love to change the information.

[@pjay3392]

I've heard of people 'splashing the cash' and this pilot went through 30 million in nano seconds

[@TheEvo86]

i mean i have felt like an idiot for leaving money in my pants and then it gets destroyed by a washing machine... this guy straight up soaked a military Harrier during a goddamn airshow

[@tomwalsh6774]

just goes to show the unbelievable power of the ejector seat you can see it clearly push the aircraft down when it ejects

[@AnomalousIntutition]

I should say that the workload on the Harrier is very high. If the pilot tried to save himself time by being clever & advancing both levers simultaneously, then he was doing something outside the flight manual that was bound to cause problems. The F35B computer has a lower workload & monitors the flight parameters to ensure that the nozzles are not changed if there is insufficient aerodynamic lift to maintain height. That said, there are problems with Hot & High landing characteristics of F35.

[@miodragjr]

i saw this accident on another video, lets see if we can find more.

[@artrocks8392]

Did the pilot lose his job?

[@MrSphayes]

no, saw him 8 weeks later at another air show, but he was on crutches. talking to my friend and her husband. all from the same base

[@alisongrant8264]

What do you think crashing a very expensive aircraft is the English Channel, i think he did loss his job

[@Backs4more]

Flight Lieutenant Tony Cann ended up as Officer Commanding 100 Squadron, RAF. From someone who was a prime pilot in a ground attack role to commanding a squadron who's primary role was to tow targets. Suggests he was well and truly busted down. certainly was arrested at the time of the accident.

[@Rs.g4b]

@@MrSphayes is he ok?

[@Rs.g4b]

@@alisongrant8264 yes the harrier is British engerning and they cost 200 millions to buy

[@magicalempire]

I was station in RAF Gutersloh, everyday was trouble with the Harriers

[@Altenholz]

My god, what kind of immediate reaction from the pilot- unbelieveable!

[@themc2806]

Take a split second from pulling the ejection handle trsut me youd be suprised how fast they come out of them cockpits

[@SYNAPTIKMETAL]

Was the most entertaining part of any of the airshows there. Was in there a week before they got it out. I went and watched it lifted out as well.

[@Rob-vv5yn]

Great demo even showed how to get out of the jet in a hurry priceless

[@TumbleTrashOfficial]

lol

[@TheShanampan]

And that concludes this afternoons demonstration of the martin baker ejection seat. Seriously though,respect to the RAF and all pilots who put their lives on the line for their countries.

[@MrSphayes]

i was there too. travelled alway from chorley lancs to see the show. have photos at home of harrier falling into sea

[@TheHuntingAgency]

I was maybe 400m from this when it hapened. The engines apparently overheated and just cut out and the pilot demoted as a result. He then went on to serve in the Gulf with great distinction and has subsequently regained his rank! Great clip!

[@Tarten21]

No he accidently closed the throttle instead of moving the hover stop lever and there is only 1 engine.

[@romanpernal7397]

Why so close to people?

[@mcfcguvnors]

l;mao i was there that day - plane ditched,everyone oo ahhh etc then ONE WOMAN says & i quote " WAS IT SPOSED TO DO THAT "? 200 people just look in absolute silence at the even crazier thing that took their attention from A PLANE CRASHING INTO THE SEA pmsl,only in lowestoft lol

[@chadmeyer9500]

That's kind of hard to believe given how many people in the video, including young boys who should be interested if anyone is, are not watching the plane at all. This video doesn't show it but the one from the edge of the water clearly shows a lot of people just standing around facing away from the aircraft. The other video also shows a better overall view of the crowd, and either you can't count or estimate very well or you're full of it claiming to have been there. Because in the other video the crowd looks a lot larger than 200 people. As for the supposedly stunned silence of the crowd after supposedly oohing and ahhing, this video, which has pretty good audio, certainly doesn't have the oohing and ahhing you mention. And the people were pretty much silent long before the plane crashed. After the crash, hardly anyone shows any physical response typical of watching a plane crash unexpectedly. A few people perk up a little but most seem pretty calm and unconcerned and hardly anybody turns to a fellow bystander in stunned disbelief in a "DID YOU SEE THAT?!?" manner. Which isn't surprising since the plane is 50+ years old and the entire "Harrier family" of aicraft has collectively averaged a crash every 3-4 months on average and I don't believe any 6-month period has lapsed without one crashing somewhere. According to the Wikipedia article on Harrier losses and my quick count of the events on the list, at least 170 Harriers have crashed. Which not only makes them one of the most dangerous military airplanes ever, it makes them one of the most dangerous airplanes ever. And no, it's NOT a case of the plane being that incredibly hard to fly. There are many aircraft that require a LOT more pilot skill, training and experience to fly. Its a case of a shitty so-called "fighter plane" with very poor performance relative to other contemporary figher planes lulling trained pilots into a false sense of security that it can't really be THAT dangerous if it won't even go supersonic and has an ejection seat. And the fact that the "trainer" versions are significantly different airplanes from the "combat" versions and a lack of simulators results in even "trained" pilots soloing in an unfamiliar aircraft the first time they fly a "combat" Harrier. And since those early flights are conducted without "full" weapon and fuel loads (or loads defined as "full" after it was discovered the plane couldn't possibly meet its original design requirements and goals and isn't capable of vertical takeoff even stripped bare with enough fuel to attempt it onboard), it's a whole different ball game the first time a pilot flies with a "full" load. And it's another whole new ballgame the first time he flies from a carrier deck conventionally and yet another whole new ballgame the first time he uses a ski jump. Basically it boils down to there being very, very few highly skilled, experienced and knowledgeable Harrier pilots ALIVE and most of those that are retired before the airplane could kill them. In many cases 2 or more crashed in a single month, but the first crash in a month occurred several months after the previous crash. Which is unusual since there are other periods of losing 1 per month or every other month or so. So what several months of ZERO losses followed by multiple losses in a month suggests is that a period of "grounding" followed a string of several crashes that averaged 1every month or so. No doubt the planes were grounded as a part of some big PR campaign while "investigations" and "inspections" were conducted as if there were a serious effort to make the planes safer actually occurring. Of course as any pilot knows, you don't make an aircraft safer by keeping it on the ground and keeping the pilots out of the cockpit while politicians, bureaucrats, manufacturer reps and other "experts" poke around in a pile of debris or listen to "eyewitness testimony" from whatever people happened to "witness" the accident. And when everyone is worried about the plane that crashed and is working to prevent that accident from happening again, maintenance and service of the grounded aircraft that were airworthy at the time of the crash as well as repair of aircraft that were not airworthy at the time tend to take a back seat. And invariably, nobody on the ground is going to fess up to mistakes or miscalculations or any other contributing factor or outright cause of the crash as long as there's that excellent chance of the accident being blamed on "pilot error", which is the default explanation when you literally have no real evidence of what happened and no real interest in learning the truth. So after being grounded for months, pilots and airplanes were in no condition to resume flight operations in anything approaching a "normal" manner. And ground crews and support equipment weren't up to suddenly resuming maintenance, service and repair and various parts and supplies may have become compromised in the meantime. So when someone finally decides enough time and effort have been spent pretending to investigate and fix the problems with the airplane or flight crews or ground crews, the "go back to work" order is given and a bunch of nervous/anxious/rusty/fearful/pissed off pilots get back in planes that have been sitting for months hurriedly prepped for flight by ground crews that obviously are in the same boat. Interestingly enough, even though pilots ejecting "safely" and surviving crashes became more than just an anomaly experienced by a lucky few only after the plane had been in service for at least 15 years, the plane really didn't become much "safer" despite all the knowledge and experience that should have resulted from all the fatal accidents prior AND the supposed "improvements" that were made to produce the AV-8B. Probably because a few stories about safe ejections and the "new" Harrier were used to convince pilots to be more aggressive in their flying and they took more risks and flight operations were ramped up significantly as operators sought to "vindicate" the airplane/ No doubt the hype and propaganda and "happy ending" accident reports AND the need to attract aircrews to the deathtrap Harrier resulted in pilots who otherwise wouldn't have made the cut or who weren't experienced and trained enough ending up in cockpits. Safe ejections also started happening just in time for the Harrier to be considered anything other than a gimmick deathtrap, which no doubt influenced the decision to send it to the Falklands to be operated from aircraft carriers despite it being COMPLETELY unproven in any prior combat over LAND and with zero pilot experience flying COMBAT missions from carrier deck. Which anybody that knows anything about carrier aviation can tell you makes carrier aviation a LOT more difficult since you launch KNOWING you're going into combat and you usually come home rattled from it and with a less than 100% aircraft and no fuel to spare the majority of the time. Despite all those factors, the need to vindicate the Harrier and prove to the world it really wasn't the joke and deathtrap most of the othe air forces and combat aircrews in the world thought it was and a giant combination of national pride and a big inferiority complex won over common sense. So the Harrier was deployed to the Falklands for its first "combat", where the U.K. lost at least 9 Harriers in 19 days out of a total of 30+ aircraft lost during that period. Which, along with the lost of several ships and the post-war return to "status quo ante bellum" as far as Argentinian claims to the Falkland Islands, makes the idea that the U.K. "won" the Falklands War pretty laughable. Even during the Gulf War where its "performance" and "reliability" are GROSSLY overstated given the relative LACK of any serious and capable and large anti-aircraft threat, several Harriers were shot down or otherwise lost. Harrier fanboys and the documentaries make a BIG deal about the Harrier flying the majority of sorties during the Gulf War and 3000+ "missions" being flown by Harriers, but the fact is that thanks to its ridiculously small weapon and fuel load and its low performance and high vulnerability to even small arms fire, the "missions" it flew were ones that weren't worthy of more capable and valuable airplanes and aircrews. And the "mission" count was also drive up by the fact that a significant portion of even THOSE relatively simple "milk runs" required SEVERAL sorties to complete as for various reasons, Harriers didn't get the job done the first time. And no amount of propaganda about combat performance erases all the non-combat losses from the memories of Brits, Spaniards and Americans who pay attention to such things as how their taxpayer-purchased military machines perform and anyone else who has followed or researched the aircraft. I'd even go so far as to say that for Brits over the age of 30, a Harrier crash is about as surprising as the sunrise.

[@PePe-zt2nd]

Chad Meyer ok

[@SilverrulezGaming]

@@chadmeyer9500 Ok CHAD. Sheesh

[@terrystevens5261]

@@chadmeyer9500 Are you another idiot? or are you soaring tractor under another name?

[@100grummelkopf4]

@@chadmeyer9500 get a life ;)

[@pef1960]

My wife and then 3 year old son were there that day, with her parents and sister. They still describe seeing it just drop out of the sky...

[@DrCrabfingers]

Yet again the air pressure differential takes the ejected pilot back onto the wreckage....it happens a lot! If the plane explodes the low air pressure above the wreckage sucks the canopy into the void, directly onto the burning aircraft...and here it was probably the huge amount of air being thrust downwards by the engines and being replaced from above that sucked the canopy right back onto the wreckage of the plane. I guess low level ejections are prone to those issues?

[@Rob-vv5yn]

Quite lucky that was over water if over land he probably would of landed into the burning fireball and been toasted

[@richardbaker_0086]

Were they able to recover the plane?

[@AA-xo9uw]

Yes

[@magicstix0r]

The next aircraft he will be piloting is a desk...

[@sebastiankajander905]

The engine overheated. It wasn't his fault and there was nothing he could do but save his own ass and eject

[@magicstix0r]

Here's an idea before you comment next time: Try reading the facts instead of talking out of your ass. The accident report clearly faulted the pilot for incorrect control of the hover stop nozzle. In fact, you'd know that if you READ THE FUCKING DESCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO AND FOLLOWED THE LINK TO THE MOD REPORT. Also, engines don't just "overheat" for no reason. GTFO my internets, worthless scrub.

[@GC8WRX_EJ207]

Plenty of posters on youtube think they're fucking aircraft crash investigators. It's funny reading all the comments on here.

[@muppetrolf]

Actually it's all relative. The Harrier was reasonably difficult for an average pilot. That's why only the best 2% of British fighter pilots ever touched. It. But when they did, boy could they get some performance out of it. Nailed a few F-15c in it's time. All be it at medium height. But nonetheless a devastating and versatile aeroplane in the right hands.

[@theking-fz1xm]

magicstix0r that jet had many problems more accident than any other and long repair time needing special tools it's bin replaced very unstable

[@gailcrook4908]

desk job, after his broken ankle mended ?

[@damo4576]

Someone should have told the pilot that they'd moved the carrier...

[@LeSpaceUnicorn]

Can anyone explain what happened and why it dropped? Cheers

[@StayPuft80]

Pilot error.

[@bigal3940]

Everybody got to see the 22 Sqn RAF Sea-King from Wattisham, and the pilot gets a Martin-Baker tie, albeit very expensive!

[@_Jimmie_]

Fortunately he got out safe

[@TheEvo86]

not like the B17 crash i know this was this year i just hope someone reads

[@user-xm1qn4th3f]

Not sure too many pilots have ever landed on their own aircraft

[@AdmanFatman]

I was 9 on that beach much further left from this angle. Still remember it.

[@billnoll]

Imagine how cool it would’ve been if he swam to shore… then started shaking hands, taking selfies 😅

[@edd30t4vw2]

Selfies weren't a thing in 2002 dude. 🤣

[@sdrc92126]

@@edd30t4vw2 I have selfies from the 1980's.

[@TheEvo86]

@@edd30t4vw2 they were a thing, if you were wierd enough to grab an instant camera or whatever they had in 2002 and flip it backwards

[@yticex]

In such situation ofc trust is critical to maintain aircraft in a hover and requires monitoring, Harrier has displays for nozzles angle and trust, so even if you manipulate the wrong lever, which are really different, you should be able to see something wrong, i don't how much time it needs to regain enough trust power, but i believe the plane could be saved.

[@apollo3396]

Perhaps you should have been flying it then?

[@ianrobertsonRR1]

Does the canopy blow off a fraction of a second prior to the pilot coming our or is there an engineered weak section of the 'lid' that allows the seat to smash through ? Must be a hell of a thing to experience !

[@MG-bs5mr]

Have you ever seen the lines on the canopies? To me they look a bit like thin duct tape. I know that they've got something to do with it. I can't remember the exact specifics. And yes, apparently, it can be quite an experience. Concussion, back injuries, etc. In my understanding pilots are normally grounded for a while afterwards in order to keep an eye on them.

[@ianrobertsonRR1]

@@MG-bs5mr It must be a hell of a charge that detonates and sends the pilot, and the large seating unit he is secured to, as high in the air as it does. Saved a few lives over the years no doubt.

[@MG-bs5mr]

@@ianrobertsonRR1 indeed, I was curious so I looked it up. Apparently they can experience between 12 and 20 g's. Agreed, they must have saved many lives.

[@AA-xo9uw]

The canopy plexiglass gets blown by shaped line charge just prior to the seat going through it.

[@AA-xo9uw]

@@MG-bs5mr FLSC - Flexible Linear Shaped Charge

[@anthonyk]

the jump jet is not able to hover more than 90 seconds that's why it failed.it failed because there was no water to cool of the engine.

[@frazzles_4499]

anthonyk the engines cut out so shut up it can hover for as long as it wants

[@Alex-dr6sv]

PandaPunch Bot check your facts before you comment

[@richierich4810]

I don't remember them having cameras that bad in 2002 :/ Are you sure this wasn't 1982 😂

[@TheEvo86]

yeah lol, ive seen 60s footage that looks better lmao

[@pbakam1522]

just checking no one has said anything stupid lately

[@robertduncanmuir]

I had a vortex ring state after a vindaloo the other week

[@SiM-vx5mn]

Pilot error with this one according to the RAF report in the national archives

[@MrClaretMatt]

He caught the nozzle control with his sleeve and was unable to recover/build up sufficient air speed to save the aircraft... He also broke both his legs when he landed on it, poor sod

[@lightning76]

Jet: sorry, my engines overheated, I'm out...

[@aspiringdrummer17]

That F-117 (82-0806) was shot down by a S-125 Neva/Pechora SAM. No Mig-29's were involved.

[@harold5856]

been to lowestoft air show many times and have never seen this

[@TheEvo86]

damn, poor Harrier, luckily the pilot survived unlike the recent B17 crash

[@jkker05]

So what happened was gravity.

[@chr0min0id]

*Fact:* There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky!

[@AcidRain09]

Thats one of those days in life i won't forget

[@CameronGLGL]

A man has fallen into the river in Lowestoft city Build the ejection button

[@aspiringdrummer17]

If you're so confident of yourself then give me an example of a conflict in which the Mig-29 has a positive combat record...

[@3dprinter_3]

Little did everyone know that this was part of the show...

[@sfsen]

Comments: "I wasn't even born, yet I was in that beach when it happened."

[@intorsusvolo7834]

1:20 finally some peace and quiet.

[@johnstamperston2965]

"Eh. This is kinda boring. I don't wanna hover anymore" *ejects*

[@chrishoulihan427]

I'm sure the Harrior could only hover for around 60 seconds before coolant or water or something ran out. He may well of overestimated the hover time capabilities

[@rossbrown6641]

Must have been a dickhead extreme!

[@AA-xo9uw]

At max flow of 35 GPM you'll get 90 seconds of water injection but water injection isn't always required during the hover. The amount of time one can hover is dependent on a number of factors.

[@mediumrare9051]

It was an ejection demo.

[@jeremyclifftonbigsmeat6394]

I'm the one filming this remember it like it was yesterday the airforce was PISSED

[@MrSphayes]

i was there at the show itself on the beach. the harrier was taken back to raf wittering for further investigations

[@LtShifty]

So in layman terms?

[@mobius7089]

One of two things: 1. Aircraft was too heavy to hover without water injection and the water ran out. 2. Aircraft was light enough to not need water, but was run at too high RPM without water cooling for too look long and the engine was damaged. Either way it was an engine failure

[@joeletaxi821]

The British public are more interesting to watch than the airshow. “Oooo….did that plane crash? Go and ask the man in the van how much for ice cream. Kevin stop picking your nose.”

[@rossbrown6641]

Fantastic comment, dead right!

[@Enfieldriderlongisland]

Cause was a failure of the #7 Fetzer valve due to an insufficient amount of 3in1 oil.

[@littlepippin8445]

AIB report said it ran out of petrol.

[@seanwoodyatt7342]

My partner's brother was working on the lifeboat when this happened and was one of the first responders to reach the pilot.

[@brianedward6417]

Are you gay🤦🤪👉

[@seanwoodyatt7342]

@@brianedward6417 no I am not.

[@ShaneD3488]

At 1:12 the pilot spilled his coffee on the controls.

[@s1914]

Says on Wikipedia pilot pulled throttle lever wrong way. Difficult to believe.

[@MHortonIII]

Read it from here then, webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121026065214/www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/610DA872-1AC5-4CAF-B7CB-B4FFC76BD148/0/maas02_01_harrier_gr7_zd464_02aug02.pdf

[@georgebaggy]

Harrier pilots never got enough flight hours to stay sharp. The plane was a maintenance nightmare, would take 500 working hours just to examine the engine.

[@2000Betelgeuse]

This airplane was never truly safe, no wonder most countries have retired it

[@SuperWannabeGuitar]

I think mainly it's because it's a very expensive jet that has too many features that are really pointless

[@muppetrolf]

It was extremely safe. And it helped win a war in which the odds were completely against it. It proved itself very versatile in the end.

[@svyt]

"Extremely safe" is a pretty meaningless phrase. Can you quantify that, say in "airframes destroyed per 100,000 flight hours"?

[@muppetrowlf1473]

It's not a meaningless phrase at all. You can quantify safety by looking at statistics. But statistics don't always provide accuracy, because it depends how and when the stats were collated. Take the Harrier/ AV-A/B "official" record. The stats might show a below average safety record to date. But, the Harrier only incurred a bad safety record when the US Marine Corps started flying it. As, by the USMC's own admission, when they 1st had the AV-8A they didn't scrutinise the pilots enough. This led to many accidents. The sort of handling errors that neither the RAF or the Fleet Air Arm suffered very much of. In fact I stated that it was difficult to fly according to reports I'd read. But this is incorrect. According to it's manufacturer ( Thomas Sopwith ) it was not difficult to fly and was a remarkable aeroplane. What it was, was very unforgiving, which is different. Unforgiving means that if your an average pilot and you have an "off " day and mishandle it, it will depart. And because it is VTOL and usually close to the ground the likely hood of an accident is greater. My personal opinion is to quantify it by the best means possible which I believe to be combat/war. In the Falklands War 46 Harriers faced around 200 Argentine aircraft. They shot down several for no loss. This was done while the Harrier was switching between air combat, ground support AND bombing! Over 2000 sorties in 1 Month, which was 6 sorties per day for each available aircraft. only about FOUR were lost without enemy action and 2 of those collided at night while searching for a low level contact over the sea. The Harrier's record in the Falklands alone is barely believable it is that good. The Argentines were shit scared of it even though they flew faster, more powerful aircraft. It is undeniably one of the greatest designs ever flown. This is the reason the US Marines still fly it. Although us British shamefully scrapped it in 2010 because we were running out of money to fund the monsterously useless EUROFIGHTER.

[@angelisreal]

+muppetrolf The Harrier II is still the most dangerous aircraft to fly. 1/3 of the fleet has been lost to accidents alone, and hundreds of pilots killed. Just because some were labeled "pilot error" doesn't mean it was all on the pilot, as it was and is still unstable in hover. The slightest wind gust can push it however far or cause a compressor stall (killing the turbine), because the is forward movement to counter the lack of sufficient airflow into the intake. A plane as complex as the Harrier has many flaws, making it dangerous to fly, but it has a role and it fits it well. I hope it remains in service a while longer.

[@hoomannili]

A great example of "Welcome to planet earth", where millions of pounds of technology and highly skilled pilots can drop like a stone. I say this to those to expect things to never go wrong. Both the pilot and the machine are amazing and I'm glad the pilot ejected in time.

[@Pavel_Morozov_ZN]

Попонтовался, и хватит. Отказ движка - "моменто в море".

[@TravelwithBarrie]

I remember this very clearly as I was just 100 metres from the plane on the beach.

[@truemetalsonic]

back when we had a beach ...

[@maz161165]

AND an airshow! Maybe now after tragic shoreham disaster they MIGHT get more funding towards it so it can start again!???? I live in Cambridgeshire but used to go every year (dispute the weather!) to airshow at lowestoft and it was an event many thousands of people enjoyed

[@alisongrant8264]

We do again😀

[@therealDannyVasquez]

What happened to your beach?

[@eduardoc1252]

@@therealDannyVasquez I'd like to know as well

[@impulsiveDecider]

back when we could go to the beach