Article Posted on : - Aug 30, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC (BNS): The ageing F-15C fighter jets of the US Air Force (USAF) were saved further embarrassment when investigators concluded that a fatal mid-air collision involving two aircraft, earlier this year was a result of pilot error. No structural or technical problems were found in the two aircraft, according to a report made public earlier this week.

The F-15 C Eagles, which have been in operation for nearly 30 years, were under the scanner as USAF was finding it hard to maintain them. The aircraft were even brought to India four years ago during the first ever Indo-US air exercise at Gwalior.

The F-15 fleet was grounded for sometime last year. After a thorough check, it was found that 160 aircraft had problems in a fleet of around 700. The finding and subsequent crash had put a question mark on the flying abilities of the old aircraft.

The findings of the mid-air collision incident were eagerly awaited. Air Force investigators hinted that pilots of the two aircraft were short on training to operate the machine. It was found that the two pilots missed critical training flights when the fleet was grounded for two months. But they have not been able to reach definite conclusion if it contributed to the accident.

However, the investigators noted that the two pilots were inexperienced and made errors during the training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilots failed to calculate the distance between the two aircraft and could not take corrective steps as they had only two seconds to react.

"The cause of this mishap was pilot error. Both men failed to clear their flight paths and did not recognise their impending high-aspect, mid-air collision," said Brig. Gen. Joseph Reynes, the head of the seven-member Air Force Accident Investigation Board.
The officials said the pilots had excellent qualifications and flying records. "They were doing manoeuvers and we do this every day, thousands of times, in all our air combat command flying aircraft," he said.

According to investigators, Jivanjee, who died in the crash, had 120 hours of flight time in F-15C while the other pilot, Hamilton, had clocked less than 500 hours. Jivanjee had committed a similar mistake during another training sortie, just a day before the crash when he flew close to another aircraft. The incident was not reported to commanders.

As of now, no problem has been found in the F-15 aircraft either with mechanical failures or structural defects. In fact, the aircraft were found to be in good condition.