A flight control malfunction exacerbated by the flight crew’s response overstressed a KC-135 last year, ripping its tail off and causing it to explode in flight over Kyrgyzstan, investigators determined. The Accident Investigation Board determined that the tanker’s flight control augmentation system malfunctioned, causing lateral oscillations shortly after takeoff from the Transit Center at Manas on May 3, 2013. Recordings revealed the aircrew noted the problem, but did not disengage the yaw-damper or boosted rudder control, leading to a combined lateral and horizontal oscillation, known as “Dutch roll,” according to the report’s executive statement, released March 13. The pilot responded with rudder input, which intensified the oscillations, causing the tanker to break into three sections, and killied the three crew members aboard. The AIB stated that insufficient crew training, inexperience, and “cumbersome procedural guidance” contributed to the mishap. Loss of the aircraft is estimated at a $66.3 million. (Air Mobility Command release) (AIB report; caution, large-sized file.)
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…