Brake failure caused B-1B crash in Qatar

[unhappycamper]

The fire sparked when a B-1B crashed into a concrete wall at a base in southwest Asia caused $346 million in damage.


Brake failure caused B-1B crash in Qatar
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 3, 2008 17:38:22 EDT

Brake failure on a B-1B Lancer caused it to roll uncontrollably into a concrete barrier and explode, starting a fearsome blaze that destroyed it and damaged two C-130J Hercules at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on April 4.

That is the conclusion of the Air Combat Command accident investigation board tasked with looking at the cause of the $346 million mishap. The command issued the report Oct. 1.

Despite explosions and a fire that burned into the next day, no one was injured. The B-1B’s four crew members — aircraft commander and pilot Maj. Norman Shelton, pilot Capt. Brett Sailsbery, offensive systems officer Capt. Eric Alvarez and defensive systems officer Capt. Scott Martley — escaped from the B-1B by climbing through a roof hatch and sheltering themselves in a drainage culvert. The crew and jet were from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.

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The investigation board president, Col. Mick Guthals, a career heavy bomber pilot, said the brakes failed because a hydraulic fluid leak in a wheel brake allowed the high-pressure liquid to drain out within minutes of landing and before the crew realized there was a problem.

The accident is the second time this year a B-1B rolled into airfield obstacles because hydraulic problems caused its brakes to fail. On March 7, a B-1B at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, collided with two parked fire trucks after making an emergency landing. There was no fire and the repair bill for the jet and trucks came to $5.8 million.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/10/airforce_b1b_fireaccident_100308/%2e