A student pilot’s loss of situational awareness while practicing aerobatics in the skies near Columbus AFB, Miss., last July, caused him to eject from his T-6 trainer aircraft, resulting in the aircraft’s loss, Air Education and Training Command announced Monday. AETC’s accident investigation board determined that 2nd Lt. Falah Al-Obaidi, an international student pilot assigned to Columbus’ 37th Flying Training Squadron, had incorrect airspeed while performing aerobatic loops during his July 9, 2009 flight. On his final loop, he chose to eject from the aircraft after it began a steep right bank dive from which he believed that he could not recover. He suffered minor injuries, while the T-6 was completely destroyed. (AETC release) (AIB executive summary)
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.