The student and instructor pilot in a T-6A Texan II trainer overshot a landing traffic entry pattern and failed to see a second T-6A with two onboard, thereby causing the midair collision of both airplanes last November, the Air Force said in a March 19 release on the findings of the board that investigated the incident. “The cause of this mishap was a result of pilot error,” USAF said. The accident occurred Nov. 28, 2007 near Gunshy Auxiliary Field, Miss., and resulted in the total loss of both aircraft. All four pilots sustained superficial burns and abrasions upon ejecting from the two airplanes.
The Air Force has spent more than two years studying cancer risks to Airmen who work with the service's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Now lawmakers in Congress are placing fresh scrutiny on the issue and have prepared legislation that would direct the service to clean silos and launch facilities.