'CULTURE OF RISK TOLERANCE' CITED IN T-38 CRASH PROBE

  • Published
  • By Tim Barela
  • Torch Magazine
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Investigators found that the Feb. 11 T-38C Talon crash landing at Ellington Field, Texas, resulted from a series of mistakes by a fatigued pilot during landing, and they admonished the pilot's squadron for creating a "culture of risk tolerance."

The pilot, from the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., became disoriented and misjudged the landing runway, lost altitude too quickly and allowed his airspeed to fall below a safe level, according to the Air Education and Training Command accident investigation report. This resulted in catastrophic damage to the T-38's landing gear and right wing.

The mishap occurred during the fourth sortie of the day as a night solo continuations-training mission into Ellington Field, near Houston, on a squadron cross-country sortie. The pilot safely departed the aircraft when it came to rest on the ground, and he sustained only minor injuries.

In addition to the culture of risk tolerance, the report cited inadequate operational risk management of the cross-country weekend plan.

"Inappropriate supervisory policy, combined with inadequate ORM, led to the mishap pilot flying a high-risk mission profile," the report said. The board further found that the pilot's fatigue, resulting from the aggressive flight plan approved by his squadron, substantially contributed to the mishap.

"Outside of these cross-country weekends, it was rare for an (instructor pilot) to fly four sorties in one day. There was a mindset that a day consisting of four continuation training sorties was generally less risky than a day consisting of three student pilot instructional sorties," the report said. "The sortie was (the mishap pilot's) fourth sortie of the day and was flown entirely at night. ... This mishap was caused by the authorization and execution of a mission having an unnecessarily high level of risk relative to the real benefits."

Damage to the T-38 -- landing gear, engines, right wing and tail section -- was assessed at $2.1 million. The impact also caused minor damage to the runway, but no damage to private property, the report said.

According to Col. Creig A. Rice, AETC director of safety, risk mitigations were put in place to address the issues outlined in the accident investigation report.